


Blueprint of Hearts

by Simply_and_Hibiscus



Series: Blueprint of Hearts [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, My First AO3 Post, Please be gentle, Post-Kingdom Hearts II, Slow Burn, This is Kingdom Hearts, Video Game Mechanics, Wizard of Oz References, ace characters, bi characters, feelings come with the territory, lots of things in-between characters, so they went...mostly ignored, the last 4+ side games hadn't even come stateside, we've been writing this the last 10 years
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-02 20:43:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 83,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11517105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simply_and_Hibiscus/pseuds/Simply_and_Hibiscus
Summary: Twins Meg and Mae are stranded on an island far, far from home, but couldn't have landed on a better one. With new friends in need and more worlds to save, Sora and company set out to find the twins' hidden home-world and determine the source of this new unrest in the galaxy. But this is larger in scope than any of his previous adventures, and the stakes are only getting higher. Who's game of chess are they pawns in? And are they only simple pawns?





	1. Destiny Disney

 

          Mae lifted her head and spat out sand, sprawled out on her stomach with the weight of a person on her back. “Meg, is that you on me?” she asked, voice strained as she shook sand out of her hair.

Meg rolled off her sister’s back as Mae got to her knees looking around. “Um,” she flicked her eyes around, watching a crab amble over the sand back towards the water. “I think we need to go find a wonderful wizard Sis. ‘Cause I’m pretty sure we’re not in ‘Kansas’ anymore…” She said following the crab with her finger.

Mae followed the crustacean with her eyes as she dusted the sand off her front. “Well next on the list is to find the munchkins…” she muttered, looking back around at the apparent tropical island, taking note of the bobbing head of spiky brown hair coming down the beach.

“Well at least we didn’t kill Nessa,” Meg said standing brushing sand out of her cream colored skirt. “That’s good.”

“Uh-huuuh…” Mae’s attention was more focused on the bobbing head of spikes she could see over the hedge, ever puzzled by how they seemed to defy the laws of physics. She turned her attention back to her sister. “Though we might’ve just found our Scarecrow or… _someone_ ,” she jerked a thumb in the direction of figure in ownership of the bobbing, spiky hair, flanked by two others. One of them was most certainly female, and the other a tall boy with silver hair.

Meg looked over coming up to stand behind her sister. “Suppose that the silver-haired boy is the Tin Man?” she asked shrinking further behind her sister as the three got closer.

“I suppose verymuch _yes_ ,” said sister stated with a nod before looking back over to the approaching trio, “But we’ll see.”

          Riku was confused, the islands were small and it was basically unheard of to _not_  recognize someone, but he _didn’t recognize_ these girls who had appeared on the beach. Suspicion overcame the curious confusion the closer they got. He felt his muscles constricting, ready for a fight. They didn’t _seem_ that threatening, but lots of things hadn’t _seemed_ threatening in the past.

“Riku,” Sora leaned over to his friend, keeping his eyes on the strangers, “Who are they? And…are they the same?”

“Why don’t we go say ‘hello’ first?” Kairi asked, coming from behind them, “They might just be _new_ , guys. Come on, it wouldn't be the  _first_ time someone new landed here.” The redwood-haired princess sent a look straight to her silver-haired childhood friend.

Riku kept his mouth shut, folding his arms over his chest when they stopped close to the set of twins, still tense and watching for any threatening sign.

“We come in peace?” Mae’s face skewed with confusion at the trio’s unease. “Not like we know much of the how or _why_ of the coming,” she muttered.

Riku lifted a single silver brow at them. “So, you’re _not_ from around here.”

Mae raised a brow back. “Well we don’t recognize you, and you don’t recognize us,” she began, folding her arms over her chest and cocking a hip to one side, along with an exaggerated head tilt, “I’d say we aren’t natives.”

He glared at her, setting his jaw. “Mae, let’s be reasonable.” The other twin said softly, laying a hand on her sister’s arm. “I’m sorry; we’re kinda lost can you tell us where we are?” Meg asked. Mae huffed her cherry-brunette bangs out of her face in frustration, rolling her eyes.

“Well right now you’re on our play island!” Sora informed the girls brightly, before pointing across the water, “And the main island is over there!” He was met by silence and strange, confused looks.

“Sora,” Riku looked over at the brunet. “I think they’re from _off_ world.” He said.

It was Meg’s turn to furrow a brow. “Off―”

“―World?” Mae’s eyebrows furrowed identically, glancing over at her sister.

“This is Destiny Islands,” Kairi came in again, “I’m Kairi, and this is Sora and Riku.” The redwood-haired girl gestured to each in turn.

“I’m Meg Fair, this is my sister Mae,” Meg said holding her hand out to the redheaded girl.

Kairi took Mae's hand after her sister released it. "So Glinda," Mae started, disregarding that she had been given the girl's name, "you wouldn't happen to have some ruby slippers for one of us to put on, would you? Or possibly there's a magical path we can follow? Yellow brick? Am I jogging anything…?" Confused, the Princess of Heart shook her head vaguely.

Riku lifted his brow, _‘Glinda’? What the hell was that all about?_

It got more confusing as the mellow twin patted her sister shoulder. “Now now Mae, don’t confuse the nice witch.” She said with a small smile before turning back to Kairi. “But, do you think there’s a way for us to get home?” She asked, worry coming into her face as her fingers tapped against her arm. “With what time it would be, Mom must be really worried.”

Sora tilted his head a little to one side. “So you guys _didn’t_ come here on purpose?” he asked.

“Not a clue, Scarecrow,” Mae stated casually, shoving her hands into the pockets of her dark blue hoodie, feeling grains of sand in the corners.

“Last thing I remember was, walking home from the gym.” Meg closed her eyes, thinking, “And, everything after that gets fuzzy.” She pressed a hand to her forehead, the fingers of her idle hand continued to wiggle rhythmically against her side. “There were these creatures…little back things that kinda pulled up off the ground like shadows. Shadows with _eyes_.” She shivered, shaking her head as she looked up. “That’s all I remember. Mae?”

The cherry-brunette twin shrugged. “Nothing other than what you’ve already covered. But,” a shudder went down Mae’s spine, “Yeesh, those things were _creepy_.”

Riku scowled, and looked at Sora. From Meg’s description, it sounded like their world had been attacked. “Maybe we ought to tell the King. If the Heartless are attacking worlds again I’m gonna take a guess that they’ll need you again, Sora.”

Meg tipped her head slightly, brows furrowing. “So those creatures, they have a name? ‘Heartless’?”

Sora was the first to answer with a nod. “Yeah, your world must’ve been attacked,” he explained, voicing Riku’s theory, “Something similar happened to us once; I ended up in a place called Traverse Town.” He turned to his childhood friends. “You guys remember that? At the beginning of our adventure?”

“I try not to think about it.” Riku stated flatly and Kairi nodded.

“How bad is it that these shadowy Heartless things have come back?” Mae questioned, “Because if they’re attacking entire planets―worlds, whatever―a message in a bottle or whatever, doesn’t sound terribly efficient.”

Sora laced his fingers behind his head, shifting his weight to one side as he thought for a moment. “Well, honestly it could range from a nuisance to a disaster,” he mused before a confident grin cracked its way over his face, “Deeeeepending on who you are.”

Meg and Mae’s brow’s furrowed, and Meg bit into her lower lip a little. “What do you mean by that?” she asked quietly.

"Well," Sora began, "basically it's either you try to defend your world by fighting them, or you hide and pray they don't find you." He beamed at the two identical girls, “We’re the ones who _travel_ places to help fight them!”

“So you need to get a hold of your king,” Meg reminded, compiling a mental to-do list, “and Mae and I need to get home, somehow…”

“Well that’s no problem!” Sora’s oceanic eyes brightened further, and turned back to his two companions, “Donald and Goofy left the gummi here with us last time, remember? The King said we could use it if we needed him!”

Kairi’s blue-violet eyes brightened as well, coming to Sora’s side. “That’s right!” she concurred, smiling as she continued, “He let us keep it here just in case something like this happened!” She glanced back at the twins standing on the beach with them, each with near-identical confused looks on their faces. “Well, not for something _exactly_ like this…” she added, her smile verging on bashfulness.

Riku nodded. “Well, then let’s get this done.”

“We’ll figure out what’s going on with the King and then from there we can start looking for your guys’ world!” Sora assured with a grin, then the blue-eyed brunet looked to his childhood friends. “What do you guys say to another adventure?”

“I’m all for it!” Kairi agreed with mild excitement.

Riku rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding?” He asked folding his arms over his chest, quirking a silver-white brow at his friend. “Last time I let you wander off alone you got yourself into so much trouble it took a _year_ to fix it.” He scoffed.

“Thank you.” Meg said warmly. “Really, thank you all for your help, we really appreciate it.”

“Well it sounds like it’s settled then,” Mae chimed in, stretching her arms up over her head towards the warm island sun before peeling off her jacket, tying the sleeves around her waist and placing her hands on her hips, “Where’re you parked?”

Sora pointed back over his shoulder. “It’s on the other side of the island here, on the ledge below the tower. Come on!” The boy grinned before turning and running off the way he’d come.

Kairi moved to follow soon after. “Sora―!” she barely gotten his name out to beckon him to slow down when a twin’s form rushed by her. She steadied from the initial shock of the girl’s passing before calling out to her, “Mae! Wait up! You don’t know where you’re headed!”

Mae, half-running, half-skipping backwards in the sand, gave a challenging grin to the brunet that was _technically_ behind her. “You’re Mae, aren’t you?” he asked mostly rhetorically, “It might be a little more difficult to know which one of you is which if you didn’t dress so different.” Mae laughed, tossing her head back briefly as they passed under the shadow of the bridge and she faced forward again and up the ramp, stopping at the door.

“Oh, we’re _very_ different once you get to know us,” the cherry-brunette laughed breathlessly, “It won’t be hard very long.”

“You’re right,” the ocean-eyes teen replied, equally out of breath.

Meg approached at a much slower pace with Riku and Kairi, having finished giving them the same explanation. “So clearly your sister’s the instigator of the two of you,” Riku surmised.

Mae scowled at the elder male of the island trio. “Missing heart’s made the Tin Man bitter I see,” she muttered to herself, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned her head away from him.

The silver haired teen’s flickered between shock, guilt, and finally settled into a cold glare within a second. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Kairi’s expression was similarly shocked, while Sora just sent his best friend a wary glance and Mae gave the teen her own confused look before turning back to the wooden wall.

“Um…so the Gummi, right?” Meg asked shakily.

“Gummi’s on the other side of the island, through here,” Sora informed, pushing the door open.

Mae stopped almost as soon as she got to the other side. “Um…dead end Scarecrow,” she told him, looking back at him over her shoulder, “The bridge is out.” A fraction of a second later, Riku sprinted past and neatly jumped over the gap. “You people do this _every_ time?” Mae asked, backing up for a running start as Sora jumped the gap, followed shortly by the redwood-haired princess.

“Unless you feel like jumping down and wading across,” Riku stated looking down into the shallows. Mae crept back forward to look down over the side to the clear water below.

“I’ll pass,” the older twin stated before taking a few paces back, then rushing forward and leaping the gap. “Why don’t you just _bridge the gap_?” she asked after landing and stumbling forward a couple paces on impact.

“The gap makes it more fun for their races,” Kairi put in, giggling as Sora grinned at the very mention of it.

Riku gave a small smile before looking across the way again. “You coming?” he asked with an arched brow at the twin still standing on the other side looking worried.

“Um…Yeah…” she said and continued to stand there staring at the gap.

“Come on Sis!” Mae called, encouraging her sister across, “Yoga! Running! This is simple!”

Meg sighed, backed up, and faltered once before finally running and jumping across, stumbling into her sister.

“Told ya,” Mae grinned before her sister straightened again.

“You made that jump fine,” Sora assured her, “Now come on! The gummi’s right there, see?” He pointed toward the brightly colored vessel next to the tower not too far ahead of them.

Meg nodded shallowly before peering around her sister. “Well at least you won’t forget where you parked,” she observed quietly as they continued towards the ship.

“So we climb?” Mae asked when they reached sand again and she saw no way of getting to the raised platform of land next to the tower.

“Yup!” Sora answered, giving his redwood haired friend a leg up before climbing up himself. Once he was up he turned back around and held out his hands, bracing himself on the edge. “Come on, we’ll help you guys up.”

Meg stood for a second peering up at the ledge before nodding slowly with a sigh before taking Sora’s hand and half scrambled, was half pulled up. Riku had followed Sora’s lead, and held out his hand to Mae, though much less graciously.

Mae looked at him, stone faced but still obviously displeased. “I can get up by myself fine.” she said blatantly, pointedly moving to the side to get up.

“Fine,” Riku said straightening and folding his arms over his chest watching her.

Meg sighed from where she knelt on the ground with Sora, who had toppled over helping her up. “So where does your King live?” she asked, standing up and helping Sora to his feet.

“Disney Castle,” Sora informed simply, “We’ll go and tell him what’s going on and see what his advice is, then head off and look for your world.” He grinned at her.

The girl nodded her head slowly. She still couldn’t quite get her head around how these guys were talking about just dropping into another world and popping into to see the King, like they were going the next town over to visit their aunt. “Are we all gonna fit?” Meg asked cocking her head at the ship. It looked more like a child’s toy than transportation.

Sora grinned again. “Don’t worry, it’s a ton bigger on the inside,” he assured the younger twin.

Riku shook his head at him, muttering something under his breath as he entered the Gummi. “You _can_ fly this right?” he asked aloud.

“Course!” the brunet Keybearer replied confidently, but his grin faltered when he saw his best friend’s critical expression, “Come on! I flew the Gummi a ton last time! And you’ve never seen me fly, you can’t judge!”

The silver haired teen held up his hands. “I just remember Donald told you to try not to crash it.”

Sora part sputtered, part scoffed at his friend. “That was a joke!” he defended, “Back from forever ago! It was like, the second world we ever went to and I hit _one_ wrong button…”

Meg stood, looking around the area, chewing her lip and drumming her fingers against her leg. This debate on capability was not at all encouraging. Mae came up beside her sister, taking her hand with the tapping fingers. “Relax,” she told her quietly and squeezed her hand a little, “You’re playing again. I’ll make sure we get home safe, don’t worry.”

The girl jumped a little at her sister and giggled a little, looking up at her, “Least it wasn’t _Flight of the Bumblebee_?”

“Now let’s just take our seats and sit this through,” Mae moved forward further into the Gummi with her sister, steering her to the seats along the opposite wall, claiming a window seat for herself.

Meg took a deep breath and sat in the seat next to her sister. “S-so how long do you think it will take to get there?” she asked.

They could hear Sora shout something from the cockpit he’d disappeared into. A moment later Kairi peeked out. “Sora says it shouldn’t be terribly long,” she assured the twins and they could vaguely hear Sora say something else to her after she turned her head back inside. She smiled warmly at them, “It’s a relatively safe route, he says, and not to worry.”

Meg blinked a few times. “There are _un_ safe routes?” she asked.

Kairi suddenly looked unsure, biting into her lip. She looked back into the cockpit at Sora, but answer there came none. She turned back out to the rest of them. “No need to worry about it!” she reassured her, though there was an air of nervousness to her pleasant tone. The younger twin sank down in her seat clinging desperately to the arms of the chair.

“Calm down,” Riku soothed. “We know what we’re doing,” he said sitting down in the seat in front of Mae.

“So says the one who _isn’t_ doing the driving,” Mae scoffed.

“Fine, _Sora_ knows what he’s doing.” He snarled at her over his shoulder.

Meg shrank down further. Riku and Mae seemed like highly combustible materials throwing sparks at one another. She bit her lower lip, eyes flickering between the two as the engines of the ship revved into life. She blinked down between her feet, the exterior of the ship might look like a kid’s toy, but the inner workings were certainly not. Curiosity got the better of her and she got up, going to the cockpit. “Sora, what kind of engine does this thing have?” she asked standing behind his chair as he flipped switches.

Sora looked back over his shoulder at her with a questioning hum before turning back to the console. “Our Gummi’s got a Flare-G,” he stated proudly, patting the dashboard fondly, “Not exactly top-notch, but it’s smaller and cheaper. And even though it’s not the fastest thing out there, it gives me enough speed that we can get there quickly and still be sure to get every last Heartless ship out there.”

“Flare-G huh? Never heard of it before.” She pursed her lips, _Though I don’t know why that surprises me, I‘d never heard of a Gummi ‘til today._ She cocked her head a little. “They anything like car engines?” she asked.

“A little I guess, but I’m no expert, I just know the basics. Chip and Dale are the ones you want to talk to for that,” he relayed, glancing away from the controls to Meg and back, “They’re at Disney Castle, too.”

The girl nodded. “What can you tell me about the basics?” she asked as she watched Sora continue to play with controls. It reminded her of a little of all the controls one had to deal with on a plane.

“I guess...” Sora replied and begun his explanation, “The Gummi’s made entirely of pieces called ‘gummi blocks’, and the blocks are everything from the cockpit we’re sitting in to the Navi-G, our navigational system.” The Keybearer chuckled bashfully. “And that’s about as basic as it gets,” he shrugged.

The girl let out a small giggle. “Alright,” she looked at one of the chairs beside him. “Can I sit here?” she asked.

“Yeah!” Sora agreed brightly, “Yeah go right on ahead!”

Kairi, still in the doorway, chewed on her lip nervously as she looked out in to the passenger cabin. “Should we leave them alone out there?” she asked, turning to the two in the cockpit.

“They’ll be fine! They just got off on the wrong foot!” Sora encouraged, “Besides, I think they’ve run out of argument-steam and have resorted to just ignoring each other.”

Meg looked back at the two, both scowling out the window in almost identical manners. “Seems so,” she agreed settling into the seat to Sora’s left.

Sora nodded excitedly. “Off we go!”

****

          Mae had drifted off to sleep during the trip, later to be roused by Meg. “Hey Mae, we’re here,” she said, nodding her head to the window.

Mae blinked into awareness slowly, turning to the window as her sister indicated. “Woah,” her groggy brown eyes widened slightly at the sight she was greeted with. She turned her head back to her sister, “Awful lot of green out there. We find the Emerald City already?”

“Suppose so,” Meg mused, standing up straight again. “Though any city could be it, technically, since it was the glasses that made the Emerald City emerald.” she pointed out.

Riku sighed. “What are you talking about _now_?”

Mae rolled her eyes as she got up from her seat. “Cool your jets Frosty, it’s just a movie reference,” she huffed, “You guys apparently don’t have those here, you’re not _supposed_ to get it.”

“It’s about a girl who lands in a magical land, and has to find her way home.” Meg explained mildly.

“You guys coming or what?” Sora’s voice shouted from some place they couldn’t see, presumably just down the ramp outside.

“Coming!” Meg answered, going to the door. The twin emerged from the ship into a lush green garden. “Wow,” she awed, looking up at the pristine white palace with brilliant blue spires, “C-can we really just barge in unannounced like this?”

“Mmhm!” Sora hummed with a vigorous nod of his head, “He’s a good friend of ours, and if anyone’s gonna know what’s going on out there in worlds like yours, it’ll be him.”

“You don’t need to worry about anything,” Kairi encouraged warmly with her gentle smile.

Sora clapped a hand on Meg’s shoulder, making her jump. “Mickey’s a great guy! And they made me promise to visit anyways so this is kind of like killing two birds with one stone!” the brunet Keybearer beamed at her and the castle, where his friends wait inside. Meg nodded.

“We going in or we gonna dawdle in the garden all day?” Riku asked walking past, hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, come on guys, let’s go!” Sora followed quickly after his best friend, soon passing him in his hurry to get inside the castle.

Kairi followed soon after, looking back to their two new arrivals. “Come on you two!” she called, smiling as she gestured for them to follow with a sweep of her arm.

“Off to see the Wizard?” Mae asked, looking to her sister and holding her arm out to her.

Meg smiled and linked her arm. “The wonderful wizard of…Disney?”

Mae snorted a laugh and the two skipped inside singing a chorus of ‘because’. Kairi giggled when they caught up to them. “What’re you singing?” she asked, still laughing a bit.

“More of the movie reference Glinda,” Mae reported.

“That’s not gonna go away anytime soon is it?” Riku asked stopping half way up the stairs to look over his shoulder at them. Meg shrugged in response. The white haired boy sighed and proceeded up the stairs.

Meg looked to Kairi and bit into her lip. “Did we do something to upset him?”

“Gosh! I thought I heard voices!” they lifted their heads at the tall, armored, canine figure standing at the top of the stairs. “How you doin’ Sora?”

“Goofy!” Sora greeted brightly and he hurried up the rest of the stairs to meet his old friend.

Meg was still trying to process the knight when a frantic squawking came from down the hall. “Goofy!” the duck scolded before he even caught up, “You can’t just wander off in the middle of a―WAAAK! Sora!”

Sora laughed when his feathered friend finally noticed him. “Hey guys!” he greeted, “Were we interrupting something?”

‘Duck?’ Mae mouthed to her sister, cherry-chocolate eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Meg shrugged, bewildered herself.

“Gwarsh Sora we’re never too busy for you,” the knight noted the two extra girls, “and you seem to have made some new friends!”

“Let’s just say it’s been an interesting day,” Riku deadpanned. “We came to see the King, is he available?” he said to the duck and knight.

“What’s going on?” Donald looked to the older teen worriedly.

“Meg and Mae here are a little misplaced,” Kairi answered, gesturing to the two.

“Their world was attacked by Heartless,” The silver haired teen said. “And they somehow landed on the Islands.”

“Gwarsh!” Goofy exclaimed his hands going over his mouth. “Do ya really think the Heartless could be causing trouble again?”

Riku shrugged. “It’s a possibility. If anyone were to know the King would.”

“We’ll get you there right away then!” Donald replied and circled around behind the group, urging them forward.

They were paraded down the long hall to a room where an entire wall was a book case. Two mice-like figures stood talking and looked up, blinking once before their eyes lit up. “Sora, Riku, Princess Kairi! What a surprise!” the lady-mouse greeted happily.

Riku bowed slightly. “Your Highnesses,” he returned respectfully.

The Queen giggled as the King smiled and waved him off, “There’s no need for that!” Mae stumbled ungracefully from the awkward curtsy she was about to go into.

“It’s great to see you again Your Majesty!” Sora greeted Mickey brightly before giving a nod to the Queen at the mouse-king’s side, “You too Your Highness!”

“Who are you’re new friends Sora?” Minnie asked smiling warmly at the girls.

“They’re Meg and Mae,” Riku said nodding at mostly Mae, given the other twin was practically hiding behind her, “They came to the Island after their world was attacked by Heartless.”

“Oh dear,” Minnie gasped.

“Heartless?” Mickey’s expression turned serious, “What world didja come from?”

“We’re not really sure,” Mae explained, “We weren’t even aware there _were_ other worlds until now, Sir.”

“Well that puts a damper on things,” mused a Lady-duck in violet, who appeared at the Queen’s side.

“Sorry.” Meg muttered.

“We were wondering if you’d heard anything about the Heartless attacking other worlds?” Riku asked.

Mickey folded his arms over his chest. “Well there have been a few rumors, but nothing like a full on attack on a world.”

Riku mimicked the small king’s thoughtful posture. “So it’s possible that they’re back?” he asked.

The mouse shrugged. “It’s entirely possible,” he agreed, “It bears investigation.”

“Just say the word Your Majesty!” Sora chimed in eagerly.

“Wait now boys,” Minnie chided, “are you prepared to go on this mission?” She giggled lightly at the look shared between the guys. “Well the young ladies certainly don’t seem to be.” she said, walking over to the twins and Kairi and turning back to her husband. “I’ll take these three to get some more appropriate clothes for the journey ahead, why don’t you boys go see the Moogles for supplies?”

Sora nodded. “Sure thing!” he complied and started back out and down the hall, twisting around at the waist to wave back at the girls, “See you girls later!”

Mae’s stomach fell. “Clothes shopping?” she muttered to herself worriedly through her teeth. Riku smirked a little as he followed the King and his friend out.

Minnie laughed again, “Just a little bit, but you can’t expect to battle the Heartless without proper gear, do you?”

“No! No, I just didn’t know we’d need to change?” Mae tugged at the ends of her tank-top absently.

“We’re just gonna get into something we can fight better in. Right?” Kairi tried to assure Mae, glancing at Minnie to confirm. “Nothing super fancy. Sora’s had special clothes for fighting Heartless for a while now.”

Meg was also chewing her lip, looking down at her ballet flats she had no desire to actually fight anything, just get home and put all this behind her, but... “A better pair of shoes does sound like a good idea,” the girl said, “If it’s not a bother?”

Minnie giggled again, “It’s no trouble at all. We’re happy to help; right this way dears.” And then she led them away.

        About an hour later Meg returned to the study to find the guys waiting. “Sorry it took so long.” she said softly, gathering together the three small braids she’d woven into her hair at the back of her head with a ribbon. The clothes she had arrived in had been replaced by a pair of dark grey pants with a teal stripe down the leg and a light teal top that zipped up the front. Over that she had a quarter-sleeved dark teal jacket with pale grey detailing, the hood was of the same pale grey and lined inside with red with matching arm warmers. Her shoes had also been traded in for a sturdier pair that went with her new getup. She had also acquired a belt with red flapped dark grey pouches for items.

“Where are the others?” Riku asked, giving her a once over with a vague nod of approval.

“They’re coming.” She answered sliding a spare hair tie into one of the small pale grey pockets on a newly acquired arm warmer.

Mae emerged not much later, speaking with the Queen. Like her sister, she had on dark grey pants but instead of a teal stripe they had a cuff of vibrant light blue around the ankles. Her top was of the same design as Meg’s but a dusty blue detailed in yellow. Mae’s jacket, as she pulled it on, was light grey, long-sleeved with blue bands around her upper arm. She had acquired charcoal colored gloves with a yellow stripe across the knuckles.  Her belt had a gold buckle with a few pouches of the same dusty blue as her shirt. Mae’s sneakers had been traded in for sturdy, dark grey boots, with a yellow wedge on the sides. Her hair had been pulled back into thick braids on either side of her head, meeting in a ponytail at the back of her neck.

On the Queen’s other side was Kairi, who had kept her basic style the same. Instead of a dress, she had a pink tunic top with some cream paneling in the front over dark grey capris with rose colored stripes crossing on her thigh. Kairi had also acquired a sleeveless, hooded shrug which matched her capris. Like the twins she had a belt, hers pink with black pouches, but unlike the twin’s simple buckles, Kairi’s was heart shaped. She hadn’t bothered to change her shoes really but had pulled her hair back into a half ponytail.

“You guys look great!” Sora cheered as the remaining three joined the rest of them.

Kairi blushed. “Thanks,” she replied bashfully.

Riku nodded. “We should get going,” he said.

“Wait for us!” Goofy cried, running up to join them, his knight-like amour now a green turtleneck, black vest and yellow pants. On his head sat a tall orange hat with goggles.

“You’re coming too?” Meg asked, playing absently against her leg.

“We were Sora’s partners in his last two adventures!” Donald informed them proudly as he caught up in his blue shirt and hat, both of which adorned with silver zippers galore.

“Two adventures already? Impressive,” Mae commented and the Keybearer beamed. Mae shrugged, “Who are we to deny long-time traveling buddies into our little traveling troupe?”

“Are we all going to fit in the Gummi?” Meg asked.

“Ahyuck, Chip and Dale’s got a bigger one for us!” Goofy explained and Meg nodded.

“You all be careful now,” Minnie ordered while Mickey and Riku exchanged a hand shake.

Meg turned to her. “Yes Ma’am. Thank you for everything, Your Highnesses.”

“Donald?” the Lady in violet called expectantly to her fellow duck. The Royal Magician turned and flushed upon realization.

“Sorry Daisy,” he apologized with a nervous laugh before jogging back over and giving the Lady a kiss on the cheek goodbye.

“So are we off then?” Sora announced from the front of the group, “I’m kinda anxious to see this newer, bigger gummi!”

They all marched off back down the hall into a dark garage type space with launch pads. “Hey there Sora!” greeted one of the tiny chipmunks, “How ya doin’?”

“Just great, Dale!” Sora bent down to hear the red-nosed brother better, “Goofy and Donald say you and Chip have a new gummi for us to use!”

“Thaaaaat’s right!” the other chipmunk brother’s voice came over the intercom. Sora and company looked up to find him jumping up and down, waving at them from the small booth mounted up on the wall across the hanger. He ceased his bouncing when he was noticed and scampered across the console to put his full weight into pressing a button. “Here she is!” Chip presented proudly, “The _Giga 2XL_!”

Meg blinked as the huge multicolored gummi rose from the floor. “Whoa.” She murmured.

“Is the size gonna hurt the speed?” Riku asked looking down at the little chipmunk at their feet.

“Nah, we specially built her to be fast but hold more.” Dale explained. “We’ve been working on a transport Gummi in case we ever needed to evacuate a world. _Giga_ ’s the prototype.”

“Not gonna have an issue with seating in _there_ ,” Mae remarked, raising her eyebrows at the ship, “But is it really evacuation-of-an-entire- _world_ -worthy?”

Meg cocked her head, looking at the ship. “She _is_ pretty put together for a prototype…” she observed looking down at the critter.

“We polished her up when we heard you’d be needin’ a bigger ship.”

“Thanks guys!” Sora cheered, “It looks _great_!” He flung his arms out as if he was going to try to hug the massive contraption.

“Are we off then?” Kairi asked, looking around the group, hands clasped behind her. Riku nodded and they all boarded.

Meg, having been ahead of her sister this time settled into a window seat. “So what are we going to do next?” she asked, blinking a little as Riku sat in the seat beside her.

“I’m not sure, I think that’s up to the chaperones.” Meg blinked at him confused. He smiled at her, just a little. “It’s basically why Donald and Goofy are here. To keep us, mostly Sora, out of trouble.” 

Sora, meanwhile, made to follow Donald and Goofy into the cockpit but the duck barred his way. “Aaaaw! Come on Donald!” he whined, exasperated, “I drove over here perfectly fine!”

“But that wasn’t _this_ ship, which is brand new; we’re _not_ crashing it now!” Came Donald’s response. Riku gave Meg a meaningful look, which earned a little giggle from her.

“Don’t you have _any_ faith in me, Donald?!” Sora paused when Kairi came up beside him, hand on his arm and looking up at him with concerned blue-violet eyes. The Keybearer caved and gave her a reassuring half-smile, letting her lead him back to the seats in the passenger cabin. Mae had sat down in the window seat in front of her sister, and Kairi came and sat beside her and Sora in the single seat ahead of the two of them, leaving one single empty seat behind Meg and Riku.

“So where are we going?” Riku called forward.

“Gwarsh, we usually would head to Radiant Gardens first,” Goofy observed.

“But they’re pretty well armed against Heartless aren’t they?” Riku asked.

“If this is a strange thing, maybe you should check the people who aren’t as well defended,” Meg muttered.

“That’s actually a pretty good idea,” Riku said slowly.

Mae twisted around in her seat to face him. “What, you think we can’t know a thing or two?” she asked defensively, eyebrows furrowed. Riku glared at her.

“It is pretty surprising coming from me, Mae,” Meg pointed out.

“Maybe, but _he_ didn’t know that,” Mae replied bitterly as she turned around, still glaring at him over her shoulder before sliding back down into her seat in a huff.

“Atlantica isn’t very defended, is it?” Kairi asked Sora.

He thought on that for a moment, humming with his fist over his mouth. “Not that I remember,” he said finally. “But if we go we can’t tell King Triton we thought his world wasn’t well defended,” he winced at the thought of the proud sea-king receiving this information, “That wouldn’t go over well.”

Riku snorted, “I imagine not. Should we check to be sure?”

“Yup!” Donald squawked from the cockpit and stood up on his chair to get his face close to a speaker higher on the console, pressing a button, “Donald Duck to Launch Crew! Any time you’re ready!”

Chip saluted to the gramophone-like speaker on his end and scampered across the small booth to throw his weight into pulling a lever.

Meg let out a cry of surprise as suddenly the floor dropped out from under the ship, gripping the arms of her seat tightly; Kairi was equally taken off-guard.

“Don’t things usually launch straight!?” Mae cursed as she frantically buckled herself in.

“Up actually!” Sora called back, grinning as he felt them move from right-side-up to up-side-down.

After a time that was probably much shorter then it felt, the ship leveled off, the thrusters fired and they took off.

Riku blinked at the girl sitting beside him.  “You okay?” the teen asked.

“Let’s _not_ do that again.” Meg said with a weak, nervous chuckle.

“Some _warning_ might’ve been nice guys!” Mae called, her eyes also shut and eyebrows knitted together in anger, knuckles white as she gripped the ends of her armrests tightly.

“Sorry,” Sora chuckled nervously, but sobered up when he turned around in his seat to find how bad the fall had rattled them, rattled _Kairi_ , “should’ve said something.”

As the shock of the launch faded they all settled into a sort of calmness, disrupted only by the awkward silence of trying to think of what to talk about with people you hardly knew. Mae, becoming antsy got up to lean into the cockpit to ask how much longer it would take when the ship lurched and she stumbled to regain her footing. “What’s going―?”

“WAAAAK! Sora get in here! We’re under attack!” Donald’s voice yelled from the cockpit and Sora scrambled to his feet and dashed inside. Riku followed him, pausing to steady Mae as the ship lurched again.

“Gwarsh, they just came out of nowhere!” Goofy exclaimed.

“This ship has guns right?” Riku asked steadying himself as much as possible.

From the back there was a universal cry from the girls. Riku twisted and found Heartless had materialized in seating area. One was looming over Meg who had recoiled back against the wall, but as the Heartless advanced the girl reared her legs back and kicked the thing in the face.

“Oh no you _don’t_!” Mae growled at the black masses attacking them, scrambling past Kairi into the throng of Heartless that had appeared, and immediately getting into position to make an attack.

“You can’t take them on empty handed you idiot!” Riku cried jumping forward, against the motion of the ship, his wing-like Keyblade appearing in his hand at just the right instant to destroy one of the black things going after Mae’s back. 

“I can handle myself just _fine_!” Mae ground out through clenched teeth, kicking her leg up to bring it sharply down on one Heartless, immediately pivoting around to get another Heartless that had been behind her with a left hook.

“What’s goin’ on!?” Goofy called from the back.

“We got Heartless inside!” Riku called back.

“What?!” Sora’s voice rose with worry.

“We’ll be fine, Sora!” Kairi called, “You stay in there and take care of the Heartless outside!”

Meg jumped over the back of the chairs, scrambled back to her feet and away from a Heartless. With a distressed cry the girl swung her arm out on instinct. It would have been a futile blow if it weren’t for the royal blue blade that appeared in her hand.

“What!?” Riku gasped.

“Meg?!” Mae cried worriedly, turning around only to be stopped in her tracks, “Huh?!”

“Mae, look out!” Kairi called suddenly, pointing as a Heartless loomed up behind the elder twin.

“Mae!” Meg mimicked the princess.

“Use your Keyblade Meg!” the one male in the area cried to her.

“I don’t know how!”

“Just hit _something_!”

Mae spun, roundhouse kicking the Heartless that was coming up behind her. “My sister isn’t _stupid,_ Riku!” she snapped once both feet were planted on the floor of the gummi again, only to lose her footing again when the ship lurched more violently then it had before.

“Sorry guys!” Sora’s voice, clearly distracted, came from the cockpit, “It’s crazy out there!”

“They’re _everywhere_!” Kairi exclaimed upon taking a second look out the window.

There was another terrific pitch, this one came from the back end, and tipped them all towards the nose. Meg lost her footing and hit the ground sliding with the motion of the ship.

Riku managed to catch Mae around the waist and stay up for a second before falling with her.

“We’re goin’ down!” Goofy yelped from the front.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S&H Notes: Welcome all! To a labor of love 10 years in the making! Hibiscus here, and me and Simply both hope you enjoyed our first chapter! Our plan is to update once a month, and we've got 26 chapters locked and loaded! These first five or so have gone through at least two or three rewrites, plus editing, so hopefully they're not showing their age too badly! We're SO excited to be sharing this with you at long last! We plan to have character art up sometime soon after chapter two, so hold tight! This party's just getting started!


	2. Isolated Islands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crash landings are just the worst aren't they?

****

“Sora, Sora! Wake up!" the Keybearer opened his eyes and turned his head to see Kairi sitting beside him. Her face was dirty, her hair was falling out, and her elbows and knees scraped up, but didn’t seem terribly injured overall.

"Kairi?" his voice was strained, but Kairi placed a hand over her heart and breathed a sigh of relief all the same. Sora leaned up on one elbow and looked around. They were on a sandy beach, dark water stretching out in front of them until it hit a wall of dense fog in the distance. "Where are we?" he wondered aloud.

“You don’t know?" Kairi's face fell and Sora shook his head. "Well are you ok to stand up?" Kairi asked him quietly, like talking too loudly in such a quiet area would shatter everything.

Sora jumped up, wincing at the short jab of pain in his legs, then looked down at Kairi, sitting on her knees next to where he'd been. “I'm fine Kairi," he said confidently, and offered her his hand, "What about you?"

"I'm fine," she took his hand and he pulled her up. Her face contorted into a wince as well, probably from a similar pain in her own legs.

“Sora!” called a familiar voice from nearby; both islanders looked around and saw Goofy jogging along the eerie grey beach towards them. “Gwarsh I’m sure glad I found you! I’ve been looking all over!”

“Goofy!” Sora greeted, face brightening.

“Are the others out looking for us too?” Kairi hoped.

“Gwarsh, I don’t know. You’re the only ones I’ve found, Yer Highness,” Goofy answered, “You haven’t seen anybody else neither?”

“I was hoping we were the only ones who got separated,” Kairi replied, looking down to her toes.

“Guess this means we’re scattered again,” Sora sighed, “Let’s just hope the rest of them are finding each other.”

Goofy thought for a moment, “Well, I haven’t been looking long but I kinda get the feeling this island is small so it shouldn’t be _too_ hard to find ‘em!”

Sora’s face immediately brightened. “Great! That sounds like a plan!” he agreed, nodding.

          Mae stood on her knees in the cold sand, breathing heavily. "Well this scene looks _familiar_ ," she breathed sarcastically to the ‘tropical’ landscape before her.

Beside her there was a light coughing sound, “Glad you think so, ‘cause I don’t have a clue.”

Mae let her head fall back in exasperation. “Not _literally_ ,” she clarified irately, squeezing her brown eyes shut, “I mean the _situation_ , Tin Man. I’ve never been _here_ before.” She looked back to him over her shoulder, still scowling through her dripping bangs.

“Shocking.” The silver-white haired teen droned as he got to his feet, absently trying to wipe the dry sand from his wet hands as he looked around the fog-surrounded island.

Mae huffed and followed suit. “Alright Oh-Experienced-Globe-Trotter, what do we do now?” she asked, hands on her hips and surveying the forest ahead of them.

“This place doesn’t seem to be very big, which could be good or bad.” Riku said, turning to look into the jungle behind them, “Hopefully there are no Heartless.”

“How about hopefully everyone _else_ made it?” she replied, swinging her arms out, “You’ll notice that we are―joy of all joys― _alone_.”

“As I said, this island isn’t very big. If they’re here they doubtless would have _heard you_ by now. Best course of action is to find vantage point, get our bearings, and Sora will find _us_.”

“At least we aren’t in the middle of the ocean anymore.” Mae rolled her eyes as she trudged along in the sand behind him,

“That is good, but we’re by no means out of danger.” He made a gesture to the wall of foliage before them. “We are on a tiny jungle island, with no idea of what’s in there. There very well could be Heartless. And if there are I have to handle them myself, and keep them from tearing _your_ heart out.” He glared back at her briefly before turning forward again.

“I can take care of _myself_!” she ground out.

“Actually you can’t. You have no idea what you’re doing, or what you’re up against.” Riku stated flatly.

“Just because I don’t have a crazy bat-blade doesn’t mean I can’t fend them off on my own!” she retaliated, “And yours is probably at the bottom of the ocean by now anyways!”

There was a soft _shing_ and Mae found herself staring down the length of _Way to Dawn_. “Do you know what Heartless are?” Riku asked with a growl of exasperated irritation. “They are Darkness manifested into corporeal beings. Do you know _why_ they’re called Heartless? Because that what they _make_ you. If you get too close to them they _will_ rip your heart out and you will become _nothing_. The only way to actually _beat_ them is with one of these.”

Mae staggered back and her eyes widened briefly before she composed herself back into a scowl. “Ok, you wanna hear about my day?” Mae returned with a low growl of her own, “When I left for school this morning I wasn’t even certain there was life on other planets, then some crazy black _shadow_ monsters show up and I end up learning there’s a whole other _universe_ **filled** with these crazy black monsters, along with talking, bipedal animals, life-sized Lego space ships, and prematurely grey _assholes_ with magic swords! _Excuse me_ for trying to take what I can get from the siuation!” The elder twin was shouting at him by the time she had finished.

“I don’t care that you’re rattled! You’re in your right to be rattled! What I care about is that you’re an amateur, whose overconfidence and antagonism will get you _killed_!” Riku hissed back, dropping his arm back to his side. “Freak out all you want! Just don’t fight me every step of the way while I _try_ to make sure you _don’t_ end up like I did!”

Mae closed her mouth and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well aren’t you the _optimist_ …”

          Meg groaned and started to scramble to her feet, only to discover they were tangled in thick jungle growth; she paused and carefully de-tangled herself from the vines before getting to her feet. Looking up she could see up to the misty grey sky through the trees where she’d fallen, and it wasn’t a short distance. The girl turned in a small circle and noticed an odd silver and blue sword-like thing lying in the leaves next to her. Meg picked it up, half thinking that it might be one of her companion’s and half thinking that she had no better defense. Other than the odd blade, all Meg found around her was jungle. Dense, undisturbed jungle. Meg took a breath and cupped her free hand around her mouth. “MAE!?” she called, “SORA? KAIRI?” Her panicked cries were met by a flurry of wings and an eerie cry as birds voiced their annoyance at being disturbed. Her voice grew small, “Anyone?” She looked around again; there were no sounds other than the chirping and creaking of the jungle. The girl took a shuddering breath, and realized she was completely alone. _Maybe I should try to find the others._ The girl moved to take a step and rethought. Since she was little her sister had pounded into her that if they ever got separated again, she should sit still and Mae would find _her_. The girl set her foot down, fingers frantically drumming against her leg. But Mae had told her that when they were safe on the streets of their home town. This was the jungle, on another _world_. The girl made to take her step again and stopped. _What are you doing? You’re just going to get yourself more lost and probably hurt._ She thought, and sighed and took a step back, when she did, the ground gave way and she fell through what, in reality, was more layers of the jungle canopy. Meg screamed until she collided with the ground and the air was knocked from her, the odd blade clattering to the ground beside her. For a minute she just lay there on her back panting, eyes squeezed shut, trying not to cry, before slowly getting to her knees. Meg looked around the jungle frantically, then closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing so she could hear past it’s rattling in her ears.

She sat on her knees for a while, eyes closed, taking deep, controlled breaths until at last she could hear clearly and the first thing her ears locked onto was the sound of water. Cautiously she got to her feet once more picking up the blade and started heading towards the sound.

          “WAAAAK!” Donald screeched in alarm as he rounded the corner and nearly ran into someone. “Where did you _come from_?!” the duck demanded up at the tall, familiar figure.

Green eyes narrowed down at him. “I’ve _been_ here,” came the reply, “and I was in the middle of a nap, which I was enjoying by the way, when I heard someone _scream_. I thought I was alone, how’d you get here?”

“How’d _I_ get here?!” Donald echoed exasperatedly, “You were _dead_! We _saw_ you! You disintegrated into that black stuff just like all the―”

 “―I got over it, alright?” Axel interrupted, green eyes shut again and sounding irate, “I died and I got better, ok? So if you weren’t the scream, who was?”

“But how?!” Donald questioned, flabbergasted as the redhead’s dismissal of his resurrection, “Is the rest of the Organization back too?!” The fowl was beginning to panic.

“Far as I can tell it’s just me,” the man snapped back, dodging the question, uncomfortable with the bird’s bringing up a memory he barely recalled. He distracted himself with looking over the duck’s head at the island.

“Sora’s gonna want to see you though!” Donald exclaimed.

“So call him over then, if he hasn’t already heard you squawking over here!”

“I can’t!” Axel looked back down at him again with a quizzical expression as the duck elaborated, “We all got separated!”

“You mean ‘all’ like Sora and Goofy, right?” Axel deadpanned, stared at the waterfowl’s unwavering scowl up at him, then sighed in defeat, “You’re gonna make me tag along until you find them, aren’t you?”

_“AAAH!”_

Axel’s head snapped up at the sound of a second outcry, reaching down and holding Donald’s bill shut. “ _Listen_ for a second,” he hissed, and in the silence they heard a splash, “Sora’s a flamboyant kid, but he doesn’t scream like _that_. Is it _just_ you, him and Goofy?” Donald shook his head and tried to speak, and Axel released him.

“Kairi, Riku and a couple of Sora’s new friends are with us too!” he explained, “It was probably one of them!”

They hurried towards the sound of continued splashes, and found a young brunette girl floundering her way to shore. “It’s Meg!” Donald squawked and ran full-throttle down the beach towards her, Axel jogging along after.

The water hadn’t been shallow, which had spared Meg the pain of hitting the bottom too hard. It was about chest deep, which would have been a lot less of a problematic if she had been prepared to be chest deep in cold water. The pressure and cold made it hard to catch more than enough breath so she was ready when the combination of her staggering and the tide knocked her down. She looked up sharply at the sound of Donald, the gesture causing a dizzy spell and she lost her footing toppling back down into the water.

Below the surface and over the roar of the waves Meg could hear Donald squawking again. Then, when her arms flailed to get her above the water, a gloved hand grabbed her and tugged her up the rest of the way. Meg grabbed his wrist and staggered up coughing and gasping falling forward into him. “You alright?” he asked over her sputtering and coughing and gasping for air, chuckling slightly as he looked down at the top of her head for a little while, waiting for her to compose herself.

“Yeah,” Meg coughed, “Gravity and I are just having a difference of opinions.” She laughed as she gained some stable footing, thanks to the stranger's support, just before a particularly large wave slammed her into him, causing him to lose his footing and for both of them to fall into the water.

After a _very_ disorienting few seconds, Axel's back was slammed on the densely packed, wet sand. As if having the wind knocked out of him wasn’t enough, another force slammed down on top of him, knocking out whatever breath he had left or possibly gotten back. He could have only guessed it had been the girl. _Ugh, got way wetter than I would have liked,_ he thought as he felt the thin ends of the waves wash up around him. When he opened his eyes, there was the girl, much closer than his comfort zone would like, at least for someone whom he hadn't even gotten a clear look at their face. He was certainly getting a clear look now, and one thing was for sure, her eye color was interesting. It seemed to be a blue-ish brown.

“Sorry,” Meg wheezed, blinking sea water from her eyes trying to get things to blur back into place as she rolled off him onto the sand, raking her hair from her face. “As I said: gravity, not my friend.” She rasped with an airy giggle before coughing again.

“Let’s just not do that again, alright?” Axel replied with a chuckle of his own, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, sore from its collision with the densely packed sand.

It didn’t take Donald long to hurry over to them. “WAAK! Are you ok?!” he asked worriedly.

Meg nodded still coughing as she sat up herself twisting around partly to look at Donald. “Yeah, yeah I’m okay. You?” she looked over at Axel, really seeing him for the first time she blinked a few time tipping her head at the brilliant red color of his hair.

“Waterlogged,” he answered bluntly, shaking off as much water as he could so he could wipe the salt water off his face and out of his eyes with the back of his hand then begrudgingly sat forward to wash the sand off his hands that he’d dislodged from his hair in the coming tide.

“WAAAK!” Donald exclaimed, jumping up and down, “Meg you could’ve drowned!”

“But I didn’t, thanks to you.” Meg said slowly ringing out her sopping, dark brown hair, almost black from the water, with a nod to Axel. “I’m Meg Fair, by the way.” She said holding out a hand to him as she pressed her less-wet hair back from her face again with the other.

“Axel,” he replied briefly and, leaning back on one hand, reaching out and shaking her hand with the other, “Got it memorized?” She blinked at him; brows furrowed trying to determine what to say about that.

“It’s good you’re ok Meg!” Donald chimed in happily, but grew worried again, “Have you seen anybody else?”

“No, not at all.” She licked her lips, swallowing uselessly. “And I think I lost the blade thing, hope it wasn’t anything important.”

“Blade?” Donald echoed, intrigued.

“It was like this big,” She held her hands out a fair distance, “Silver with a blue square hilt, and well it kind of looked like a giant key. I was carrying it but when I fell I kinda…dropped it. Sorry.” She said biting her lip.

“Huh,” Axel looked her over again like something was suddenly different about her, “So you’re the new Key on the chain then?”

“I’m sorry?” Meg blinked at him tipping her head.

“The whole Keyblade thing,” Axel told her in astonishment, short red eyebrows raised, “You were unaware?”

“Aware of what?”

“The Keyblade,” both duck and former Organization member spoke in unison, looked at one another in near disgusted, then Axel continued, “You telling me you’ve never heard of it?”

The girl shook her head. “I’m not exactly from around here. Mae and I only arrived, maybe eighteen hours ago?”

“I was beginning to get that impression,” Axel replied, “How’d you get involved with these guys anyways?”

Meg wrapped her arms around herself, fingers twitching against her ribs, closing her eyes, and tipping her head to one side. “All Mae and I really remember of what happened are just shadows with eyes and then we’re waking up on the beach of Sora, Riku, and Kairi’s home island. They said that the monsters were called Heartless and that was a bad thing and we needed to see the King, thus the chaperones.” She said vaguely gesturing to Donald.

“And now you’re all here. Separated,” Axel deadpanned, “With a Keyblade of your own.”

She nodded slowly staring down at her toes. “Whatever _that_ means.”

“Well, sound it out. ‘Key’. ‘Blade’,” Axel prompted, “Thought it was obvious it was a weapon. With convenient key feature.” The girl snorted, putting a hand to her mouth.

“It’s more complex than that Axel!” Donald reprimanded the redhead, scowling slightly.

The ex-Organization member turned to him, obviously annoyed. “Shall I get more specific with ‘weapon of mass destruction’, then?” he offered, Meg’s eyes got wide with terror and only got the duck angrier.

“It’s a weapon of _Light_ against the _Darkness_!” the fowl corrected crossly, waving his arms in exasperation.

Meg bit her lip. “I suppose, if Heartless are what they appear to be, they might see it as a weapon of mass destruction?”

She was met at first with silence. But after a moment, Donald narrowed his eyes at Axel. “You _would_ see it as a weapon of mass destruction, wouldn’t you Axel?” he began, “That’s probably the only aspect of it you and the rest of the Organization focused on!”

“Watch it _duck_ ,” Axel warned, seething it through clenched teeth, “If you recall I _died_ saving your asses so you could get _rid_ of them. Don’t lump me in with them!”

“What do you mean, ‘died’?” Meg asked, brows furrowed, leaning away from the duck slightly.

“Yup,” Donald answered bluntly, not looking at her, “Not unless he popped back up for a laugh after we’d gone through the portal. Wouldn’t put it past him, he _is_ a Nobody.” Axel’s glare darkened.

“I don’t understand.”

“Go on Axel, tell her what that is!” the duck impelled, “Tell her what you are!”

Axel continued to keep his eyes away from Meg and glaring coldly at Donald. “It’s what’s left of a strong-hearted person after a Heartless gets them,” he answered.

“And?” Donald prompted. Meg scowled at him slightly.

“The Heartless takes the heart and a Nobody’s the husk left behind,” the redhead explained in frustration through gritted teeth.

“You have no _heart_ ,” Donald got to the point very bluntly.

Meg was quiet staring between the two like they were both insane, though there was an added touch of dislike directed at Donald. “That makes no sense whatsoever.” she stated flatly.

“What is there not to _get_?” the frustrated edge on the redhead’s voice grew more ragged, “I’m a _Nobody_. I thus have no _heart_!”

“Axel, I was laying on your _chest_. You think I couldn’t _feel_ it?” Meg asked arching a brow at him and trying not to blush.

Both fowl and redhead paused and looked at the twin. “Come again?” the latter asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“You sure you weren’t just feeling your own?” Donald asked with a touch of concern.

“I’ve been to enough doctors in my lifetime to know the heart is on the _left_ side of the chest.” Meg sighed, reaching over to the redhead and took his gloved hand the way doctors did to check his pulse. “It’s defiantly yours.”

Axel rolled his eyes, taking her hand away from his wrist, placing it instead over his surely empty chest. “Oh please that never―”

Meg watched his face for a second before gently sliding her hand out from under his so his hand rested on his chest. “See? One hundred percent _yours_.” She said again softly.

Axel’s brain finally caught up with him again, recalling for him a hazy memory of being led by the hand in the Black, with a thudding he barely remembered pounding against the inside of his ribcage. Axel shook his head to clear it, the sound of waves from his memory easing back into those in the present. “Just uh…” he trailed off before deciding to go a different route, “Yeah, I guess that _is_ mine then.”

“You guess?” she asked softly, her brow quirking slightly as she drew her knees closer to her with a slight shiver.

“Well that’s because before I really _didn’t_ have one,” he replied with a slight chuckle before sobering again, “Not for a _long_ time anyways.” Meg nodded slowly, rubbing a hand against her arm.

“WAAAAK!” Donald screeched suddenly, Meg clamped her hands over her ears leaning away from the duck, “If you came back with a heart what’s to stop the rest of the Organization!?”

Toxic eyes squeezed shut in resurfacing irritation, “I _told_ you, as far as I know I’m the only one back!”

Meg looked between the two, lowering her hands. “You two keep mentioning an Organization, what’s the significance?”

“A group of Nobodies like m―Well, like I _was_ ,” Axel explained, then shook his head, “Either way it’s unimportant because they’re dead and gone now.”

Donald, however, wasn’t going to leave it at that, “But Axel, if _you’re_ back then―!”

“―I _said_ I’m the only one back and the rest are _dead and gone_ , Donald!” Axel snapped.

Meg recoiled a bit. “I’m sorry. We won’t bring it up again.” She said, her soothing tone broken a bit by the shivering.

Axel sighed, shaking his head, “Meg, you’re still wet.”

“Y-yeah,” she glanced over her shoulder at the horizon, the dense fog bank showing off hues of orange and pink from a sun setting somewhere beyond it. “And I probably won’t dry off anytime soon.” She shivered again rubbing at her arms and hoping to high heaven she wouldn’t catch a cold while being so far from home. As she looked back, she noticed that _he_ was already completely dry. “How are _you_ dry?”

“Talent,” Axel explained briefly. “Why don’t you warm up with Donald by collecting some wood or something and we’ll see about getting you dry too?” he suggested.

          “Are you really sure this is gonna work, Sora?” Goofy asked as he worked on binding together logs the way Sora had instructed him to make a raft.

“Yeah!” the brunet answered with confidence, “Just because we never got to finishing ours a few years ago, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have worked, right Kairi?!”

“We don’t exactly have the same resources,” Kairi pointed out, “But we went all over this island and didn’t find anyone, we can’t just sit around and expect them to come get us.”

“Gwarsh I just wish this fog would clear up so we could get some idea of where we were a goin'.” Goofy said, shielding his eyes and squinting into the swirling bank that ringed the entirety of the island.

“Yeah, I was hoping the weather would improve too,” Kairi agreed, then turned back to the Keyblade Master, “Sora, do we have any way of knowing where we’re _going_ if we sail into that?”

“Unfortunately, not so much,” he answered, wilting a little before perking right back up, “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! Come on, the others are waiting for us!”

“Gwarsh I sure hope Mae and Meg are with someone who knows ya, Sora.” Goofy said chuckling fondly when the teenaged hero blinked at him confused. “Well that way they can tell ‘em you always come looking for yer missing friends!”

“Riku! Over here!” Mae called back through the jungle, continuing through the vegetation to a clearing and the pool of fresh water within. She pulled one of the Potions Queen Minnie had given her out of her pocket and looked between it and the water repeatedly. Eventually, her brain got to mixing up the two and she was looking at the water and thinking about the potion. She decided and brought the cork up to her mouth where she bit down and pulled it out.

“Don’t.” Riku ordered coming up behind her and putting a hand on hers, lowering the potion from her mouth.

“I wasn’t gonna _drink_ it,” Mae defended.

“That’s worse.” He said taking it from her. “This is a Potion, the only medical supplies we have.”

“Yeah, but we also have _no_ fresh water,” she pointed out, snatching it back from him, “And I was under the impression that Potions were about as common as a _band aid_ , so I don’t see all that much of a problem in dumping _one_ so we can have some fresh water.”

“They’re common in places that _have_ shops.” He sighed exasperated, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And yes water is important, luckily you have just discovered a handy dandy little spring that we can access whenever we need without _wasting_ supplies.”

“But we even have more than one!” Mae rationalized, then dug into her pocket and pulled out another to show him the proof, “The Queen gave each of us a few of them, and I _imagine_ the King gave you guys some himself, right? We have plenty!”

“Mae! These things only cure so much! If we get into serious trouble and, with my luck, we _will,_ these will be no _better_ than a band aid! Besides that these don’t _hold_ all that much and there are _two_ of us!” He said holding up one of the bottles.

“Fine, then I’ll use one of _mine_ and _you_ can run back and forth,” she tapped her flask against his, shoved the spare back into her pocket and turned back to the pool of water, muttering to herself, “Might end up drinking it after all with the headache you’re giving me…”

Riku sighed exasperated. “Fine, whatever, _clearly_ you do what you whatever _you_ want regardless of others.” He threw up his hands and walked away back into jungle.

Mae came back to the beach later to find a modest camp with a small fire Riku had set up. She looked off to the horizon, and the dull pink behind the fog. “You know, I bet that’d be a killer sunset if we could _see_ it,” she remarked, more to announce her presence than anything.

Riku stood, dusting sand from his hands and looked over his shoulder. “I’d imagine.”

“Think the fog is some weird Heartless voodoo magic?” she offered, gesturing out to the hazy horizon, converted water bottle still in hand, sloshing its contents against the cork.

The silver-white haired teen folded his arms over his chest, tipping his head and squinting at the fog. “I don’t sense any Darkness to it. So I’d guess it’s just a natural order of the world.”

“‘Sense’?” Mae echoed with a small snort of disbelief, “Is that anything like feeling like you’re being watched?”

Riku was silent for a minute, staring hard into the darkening gloom. “Proximity breeds recognition.” He stated, trying to keep any emotion from his tone as he shrugged and turned back to the fire.

“You know it’s _really_ unnerving when you do that,” Mae remarked, arching an eyebrow at him as she took a seat by the fire.

He blinked at her. “Do what?”

Both eyebrows went up. “The ominous one-liners?” she pointed out, “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, so either share so I can _get it_ or keep them internal.”

Riku looked at her levelly for a second before turning back to the fire. “Did you notice Meg had a Keyblade?” He asked choosing to change the subject.

Mae returned the level stare. “You’re doing it again,” she deadpanned, then decided not to fight him on it, “What the hell is it that Meg supposedly has?”

“A Keyblade, it’s the weapon Sora and I use.” Riku sighed rubbing at his face a little trying not to sound exasperated. “They’re rare, and take a certain kind of person to wield. And, as I mentioned earlier, they’re the only weapon that’s truly effective against Heartless.”

“And my little sister is apparently one of those people?” Mae inferred.

“Considering she _used_ one to smack at that Neoshadow―Heartless―in the Gummi? Yes.”

Mae shook her head. “Woah woah wait, you just used a _name_ ,” Mae pointed out, “Does that mean there’s more of these things than just the creepy, shadow puddle monsters?!”

“Yes. _A lot_ more. The small shadow puddles are called, well, Shadows, they can be problematic to beginners, but really they’re more a nuisance then anything.” Riku shrugged. “The bigger, more human-like ones we fought on the Gummi are Neoshadows, they’re a lot more than a nuisance, especially in large numbers and small spaces, but even they are some of the more basic brand of Heartless.”

“‘Basic’?! How much more complicated do they _get_?!”

“There are Heartless that are immune to physical attacks, Heartless that are immune to magic, and Heartless that are immune to specific magic and vulnerable against others. Then there are Grand Ghosts that are immune to all physical attacks _and_ magic attacks and you do damage by _curing_ them.” He shrugged again. “I’ve lost track of all the different kinds Sora and I have come across. Jiminy could probably tell you a more specific number.” Riku blinked and looked over at her. “Jiminy is the King’s archivist. He traveled around with Sora, Donald and Goofy and kept records of their adventures.”

“Is he a talking, bipedal animal too?” Mae asked, her face skewed into almost a flinch, anticipating the answer.

Riku grinned. “A cricket.”

Mae exhaled forcefully, cheeks puffed out. “This universe is _weird_ ,” she remarked then glanced over at Riku again, leaning forward to rest an elbow on her knee, “Anything else I should know about?”

“Probably.” Riku sighed finally sitting down. “But I can’t think of it at this particular moment.”

Mae rested her chin in her palm, watching him for a moment before she held out her bottle of water to him.

          Meg lay curled up by the fire Axel had, literally, magically started, watching the flickering shadows cast by the flames, tense from cold and fear. She hadn’t been sleeping, just dozing off and waking up disoriented every time, because why in the _world_ had she woken up on a _beach_? Her eyes settled on Axel and Donald both still seemingly asleep across the low burning fire. The girl sat up and laid a hand on her heart, beating fast and she shivered from fear and cold.

“Something up?” the redhead’s voice came from across the cinders; he’d rolled over to face her and by his face was wide awake.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” She cringed softly.

“Nah, I’ve been awake,” Axel assured her, flipping onto his back, hands supporting his red-spiked head.

“You’ve been awake this whole time?” she asked quietly, so as not to disrupt the snoring duck.

“On and off,” he shrugged, “More like consecutive naps. But after I heard you wake up panting the 4th of 5th time I figured I should say something.”

“I’m fine.” She said, rubbing at her arms a looking around at the eerie silhouette of the jungle to one side and the fog shrouded ocean to the other. “Well, I’m _okay_ , at least.”

“How’d you end up in Sora’s merry band anyways?” Axel inquired, propping himself up on an elbow to face her.

“As I said we landed on their home…world.” She said slowly, the concept still very foreign to her. “And Sora instantly said he’d help us find home.” Meg said running fingers through her tangled, slightly sandy hair.

Axel snorted to himself. “That sounds like him,” he remarked.

“You know him pretty well then?” she asked leaning her cheek against her knees looking at him.

Axel opened his mouth to tell her ‘no’, but thought better. “Yeah, kind of,” he said in a huff of air, looking out to the night-blacked water to avoid eye-contact with her.

Meg looked out across the water too. “So he’s just always that―” Meg trailed off trying to think of how to explain it. “―Accepting? I guess?” She offered lamely.

Axel chuckled softly. “Yeah, he’s definitely that,” he agreed.

“It’s kind of overwhelming.” Meg observed fingers playing against her knees.

“I can see how you’d get that too,” he nodded, chuckling again.

Meg continued to play against her knees and stare into nothingness. _Honestly, there hasn’t been much that **hasn’t** been overwhelming in the past twenty-four hours._ She thought, ever so slowly lifting her head and looking up and the endless banner of stars arching over her, glittering defiantly through breaks in the cloud cover. She snapped her head level almost instantly and looked back over to the ocean.

“You sure nothing’s the matter?” Axel asked again.

“I’m sure that it’s been an _insane_ twenty-four hours. That’s about it.”

“Tell me about it,” Axel snorted, “Lemme know when you come back from the _dead_ ; it’s a hell of a day. Got it memorized?”

“Yeah.” Meg sighed, fingers playing faster. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he replied, “Your day’s sucked, no one’s denying that. Losing your world or _being_ lost from your world is a big deal. Being drafted into the Key League is daunting too. You’re within your right.”

“Being lost on a deserted island with no sister’s just the cherry on top.” She chuckled without any humor.

“Sora will no doubt round everyone up in no time,” Axel assured her, laying down on his back again, hands cushioning his head against the cold sand, “He always does.”

“And what will you do then?”

“Dunno,” he responded simply, “We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

Meg nodded vaguely and laid back down on the sand and fell in and out of restless sleep for several more hours. Finally she decided the rising sun filtering through the fog was enough sign for her to get up and accomplish something.

Donald stirred later in the morning, awakening to an array of brightly colored fruit. “Wow!” the duck literally leaped into a sitting position, sleepiness forgotten as he looked around the beach, spotting Meg, “This all looks _great_!”

Meg flushed a little. “Thanks, I found a spring of fresh water too. I didn’t have anything on me to bring any back though. Accept these, but I was under the impression they were important.” She said holding up one of the potion bottles.

“Oh yeah, I found that before I met up with you guys,” Axel recalled and Donald squawked.

“And you didn’t say anything?!” he screeched, flailing his wings.

“No one had _asked yet_ , ya dumb duck!” Axel snapped back.

“In any case! I didn’t find any signs of the others or the Gummi though,” Meg cut in in the time it took for Donald to draw a breath to yell back. “But I didn’t investigate the _whole_ island.”

“Well, this fog isn’t gonna let up any time soon,” Axel sighed, gesturing out to the water, it’s horizon still as blurred by the thick bank of fog as it had been the day before, “And any heat we might get isn’t going to disperse it, I know, I’ve tried.”

Meg looked back over her shoulder at the fog bank. “Eerie, magical fog, that’s _never_ a good sign.” She muttered more to herself before stooping to pick up a piece of fruit. “Anyone have any other ideas?”

“More of the same, really,” Donald answered with a shrug, grabbing a papaya from the pile, “Not a whole lot else we can do without some way to get around.”

“We’re going to be here for _days_ ,” Axel remarked dryly, pressing one hand into his face exasperatedly.

Meg turned her mango over in her hands in thought. “So we just, wait for Sora?” She asked more absently then really directed. Between the fruit trees and the spring there was enough to keep them physically alive. However, the trick would be making sure Axel and Donald didn’t kill each other. She glanced at the two briefly before scowling back down at her fruit, fingers absently playing as she thought.

“No doubt he’s looking for you two,” Axel answered before Donald got the chance to spray any papaya nectar, “This is _Sora_ we’re talking about. It’s the reason I’m sticking around.” He nodded his head to Donald, “Donald tells him I’m around and the kid won’t stop. Trust me, at the least _he’s_ looking for us.”

Meg was quiet again for a while thinking. “I take it…Sora doesn’t share Donald’s dislike of you?”

The ex-Nobody scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Donald doesn’t like me because of past associations,” he answered, jerking a thumb at the duck, “Sora…he’s got other reasons why he, I guess, ‘likes’ me.”

She nodded and went silent again for a while shifting her weight a bit, and tapping her fingers melodically against the surface of the fruit. “I feel pretty useless, but that’s nothing new, I guess it would be best to stay put.” she sighed at the end of the song she had been playing to herself. “Wandering around looking for them while they’re wandering around looking for us will likely end up wasting time.”

“Sounds good to me,” Axel shrugged, finally taking a bite in what turned out to be a mango before continuing, “And a lot less energy wasted on pointless wandering.”

Meg plopped back down on the sand. _Also a good way to avoid falling off cliffs like an utter moron._ She thought grimly.

          “I’m beginning to regret this,” Kairi sighed, looking straight up into the fog that surrounded them on all sides but one: beneath them, “We don’t _get_ fog like this back on the Islands, we can’t even see the sun to know how long it’s been!”

“And I don’t think we could find our way back to the beach neither!” Goofy said squinting hard into the fog.

“We could be passing by where everyone is right now!” Sora added, throwing his hands up and sending their modest raft rocking, “We wouldn’t even know it!”

“Maybe they could hear us though. HELLO! ANYBODY OUT THERE!?” Shouted the Disney knight into the misty nothing. Kairi covered her ears at the sudden hollering over her head, tentatively lowering them when he finished.

“Well, if we keep going forward, we’re bound to hit land sometime,” Sora offered, picking up a makeshift paddle and getting to rowing, “Come on Kairi, you get the other side! We’ll find the others in no time!”

As the two islanders paddled Goofy kept a lookout, calling out into the fog every so often. “Hey what’s that?” He asked pointing to dark shape in the grey before them.

“Another island?” Kairi wondered.

“Nah, it’s too small,” Sora replied, “With this fog we’d have to be _super_ close, or at least close enough that it’d be bigger than _that_. Maybe it’s one of the others! RIKU! DONALD?! MEG, MAE?!”

“No Sora, if it were one of them they’d have heard Goofy and answered us by now,” Kairi sighed, shoulders slumping.

Goofy continued to squint as they got slowly closer and closer. “Gwarsh! I think it might be the Gummi!”

“What?!” Sora scrambled to his feet, the raft pitching with the sudden movement that sent Kairi and Goofy scrambling to grab hold of the cargo.

“Are you sure?!” Kairi added, sitting up slowly as the raft steadied underneath them again. Sure enough, the bright colors of the _Giga XL_ began to bleed through the fog.

Kairi cried out when Sora suddenly leapt from the raft, swimming toward the ship that was slowly increasing in clarity. “Sora be careful! We don’t know what’s in these waters!” Goofy called out.

The knight and Princess looked worriedly to one another when the Keyblade Hero made no response, then Goofy picked up Sora’s abandoned paddle and he and Kairi hurriedly rowed after him.

When they got close enough, the _Giga_ ’s presence undeniably clear, they stared up the floating ship to where Sora, soaking wet, was perched atop it, grinning. “Probably best we don’t tell Chip and Dale the first thing we did with their prototype ship was _crash_ it…” Kairi winced.

          Riku had woken up at the first crack of dawn and sat watching the imprisoning fog to see if it would yield any sign of where the sun was rising, so at least he could get a compass baring. It yielded nothing to him. Frustrated, the teen stood, stretching before looking down at Mae, still asleep under her jacket on the sand. The fire had gone out long ago and there was still in a chill in the air, so he went into the jungle that oppressed them from the other side, just far enough in to collect fresh firewood and start the fire again along with a few other supplies.

Mae woke up later to warmth on her face, pushing herself up on her forearms from their position as a sort of pillow; a position her now aching shoulders weren’t grateful for. She made a groggy, creaking noise in the back of her throat as her jacket slid off her back to crumple in a heap in the sand and sat up completely on her knees, squinting at the persistent haze on the water. “Still here then,” she muttered to herself, her squint turning into a glare at the fog. Getting to sleep had been a bit of a chore the night before, despite the taxing day she’d had before. Meg was out there somewhere _without_ her and so much new information whizzing about in her skull it was almost too much to process, and she was convinced that exhaustion was the only reason she ever _got_ to sleep. Brown eyes adjusted, she looked around the empty beach, half-surprised that Riku wasn’t there. Getting her bearings, she reached back and picked her jacket up off the sand, shaking it out before slipping it back on before the sunlight filtering through the overcast gave her a nasty sunburn. “Riku?” she called hesitantly, noticing the small pile of assorted items from the forest that hadn’t been there when she’d gone to sleep.

“Morning,” Riku greeted coming out of the jungle. “Hope you like coconut,” he said tossing her one of the brown fruits from the stack he carried.

Mae caught it right in front of her face, staring at it wide-eyed for a moment before lowering it into her lap. “I imagine it’d taste a lot like the shavings once you got past the brown bit,” she replied, turning it over in her hands, “Never had coconut milk before either. Oh well, today seems as good a day as any to try.” She began then to attempt to get the tropical food cracked open, but the task was proving to be difficult. She scowled and tried hitting it repeatedly on one of the logs the Tin Man had brought back. Again and again and again but no luck with the tough fruit, her scowl deepening the more times she was met with failure.

“Less sweet,” Riku replied, watching her, a small amused smile on his face. After a minute he said, trying not to laugh and holding out his hand, “Here, let me, before you hurt something.”

Mae stopped, blinking at his hand for a moment before looking back to her coconut, sighing and begrudgingly holding the scruffy, battered fruit out in his direction. “Not a whole lot around _to_ hurt, so unless you’re expecting some freak accident…” she commented.

He took it and set in on the ground before summoning his Keyblade and slicing off the top, and handed it back to her. “I’ve been through enough insanity to not disregard _any_ possibility.” He stated handing it back to her.

Mae took it back with both hands, careful not to spill. “So, that’s _your_ Key…blade…thing, right?” she nodded to his wing-adorned blade. “So are they all that―” she stopped herself, deciding ‘custom-fitted’ was the wrong term to use in this instance, “―individual? I mean like, are no two the same or something?” She brought her coconut up to her mouth tentatively, last of her words echoing inside the hollowing fruit.

“More or less. There are really only four Keyblade wielders alive right now; Well five counting Meg now.” He corrected. “So, considering three out of those five all have Keyblades with the same design, different colors, and Kairi and I are weird cases, I’ll make an educated guess that the Keyblade has a typical base form.” He explained before twisting _Way to Dawn_ around so the hilt was pointed at her, the Keychain dangling in clear view, “However they _are_ customizable with the use of Keychains, like this one.”

Mae lowered the coconut from her mouth and blinked between the dangling accessory and him. “…Fancy!” she hazard to guess.

Riku shrugged dismissing the blade. “Personally, I don’t change mine.”

“So you’re into the whole…feathery bat motif?” Mae arched an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged again. “I didn’t choose for it to look that way, but I don’t feel the need to change it.”

Mae nestled her coconut carefully in the sand beside her. “Interesting,” she mused, “So…what do we do now?” She brought her knees up to wrap her arms around them. “I mean, we went all over this island yesterday, and no one’s here,” she pointed out, “and there’s no way for us to get _off_ either. Where the hell did everyone else end up?”

“We sit tight and wait for Sora.” Riku said, folding his arms over his chest and looking out to the fog bank.

“You serious?” Mae asked him, taken aback and a little disbelieving, “How is _anyone_ supposed to find _anything_ in all that?” She swept an arm out toward the unseen horizon.

“It would be too long a story to explain all the details. So, I’m not expecting you to fully understand, just trust me when I say Sora can, and will, find us.” Riku smiled a little. “It’s only a matter of time.”

          Once more wood had been gathered, Axel ignited the new campfire; not like it mattered to him. He hadn’t questioned the ability when he still thought he was a Nobody, but knowing he had a heart now…it made him wonder what other abilities he still had. Mostly, these thoughts surfaced due to the gross amounts of _boredom_ he had to endure waiting for Sora to come find them. Donald was busy further up the beach stroking his own ego, teaching Meg things about her Keyblade that _he_ could probably explain better. He could sneak off into the forest and then just never come back out. That’s when his past words hit him with a pang of guilt, Sora probably never _would_ stop until he found him, and part of him _was_ curious to see how ‘reuniting’ with the kid would go over. He hardly knew Sora, but damn, if it was a chance to even catch a glimpse of Roxas again, let _him_ know that he was alive and well again, he might consider the ache in his chest worth it.

Axel laid on the beach beside the fire, an arm slung over his eyes in attempt to ignore just about everything. But the sensory deprivation made him acutely aware of when the sounds that had become normal white noise changed, a low rumble hummed in his ears and he drew his arm away, sitting up and twisting around to his two companions. “Hey, you guys hear that?”

Meg clearly _had_ heard it as she was looking around, her head tipped back scanning the sky. “That’s the Gummi.” She said, surprised though not at all uncertain.

It was just a moment later they could all see the bright colors of the _Giga XL_ breaching through the thick fog. “I _told_ you guys he’d find us!” Donald proclaimed, jumping up and down and waving his arms to get the pilot’s attention.

Meg slid her hands through her hair pinning the loose lengths against her neck with her hands as the roar of the Gummi sent the breeze that had been blowing into a strong wind, and stepped back several paces to allow them room to land, and glanced back at Axel.

“MEG!” Mae’s voice could be heard from the ship in the sky. Her head turned back into the ship for a moment before leaning out again, “We’ve just gotta park this thing! We’ll be right down Sis!”

“No rush! It’s not like I have anywhere to be!”

Axel glanced between the twin and the Gummi ship that nearly disappeared back into the fog as it moved away to land. It was now or never if he was going to try and split before Sora and his other friends showed up.

“Come on! Let’s go meet up with them!” Donald kyboshed any plans the redhead had of running, hurrying ahead of them toward where the _Giga_ had gone.

Meg hesitantly followed at a much slower pace calling after the duck. “Shouldn’t we stay out of the way while they land!?” Though by the time she had finished saying it the Gummi _had_ landed. She turned back to the redhead dragging his heels, coming to a stop and tilting her head at him. “You coming?”

Axel’s attention snapped back to her and knew the decision had already been made for him. “Yeah, I’m coming,” he replied and got to his feet, reminding himself of exactly what he’d told the girl before sunrise. She smiled at him and continued kept walking, in no rush.

“Hey there Donald!” Goofy called as they piled out of the Gummi. “Sure glad yer okay!”

The duck scarcely had the chance to take a breath to answer. “MEG!” Mae barreled past him, making a beeline for her sister.

Meg giggled. “Achievement unlocked, Mae! We survived twenty four hours apart!” She cheered, grounding herself so when Mae collided with her she didn’t topple over.

“And I never wanna do it again!” Mae cried, beaming as she swept her sister up off her feet and spun her around in a tight hug, “I’m just glad you’re ok!”

“Mae, Mae put me down! Gravity has not been nice to me lately!” Meg responded with a nervous little laugh.

“Ahyuck, looks like we’re all back together again!” Goofy cheered beaming.

The mood changed however when Kairi exited the Gummi and immediately gasped and shrunk back, hands clapped over her mouth with wide eyes. “Kairi? What’s the matter?” Sora’s voice came from further inside the Gummi before he appeared at the Princess’ side, but when he followed her line of sight his expression couldn’t have been more opposite. “Axel!” he greeted, beaming from ear-to-ear.

Axel gave him an informal salute and a smirk that wasn’t quite genuine, glancing at the pale Princess of Heart. It was at his silence that got Sora to refocus his attention. “No! Kairi it’s ok!” he hurried to try and console the girl beside him, a hand on her shoulder, “Remember what I told you? Axel’s not gonna hurt you, he’s one of the good guys now!”

Kairi chewed her lip and glanced between the redhead and her Keyblade Hero, but color was beginning to return to her cheeks and her eyes a good deal less wild. Axel held up both his gloved hands, his smirk holding a bit more feeling in it as well. “Scout’s honor Princess,” he confirmed.

“In the day I’ve known him he’s been a perfect gentleman.” Meg agreed with a reassuring smile.

“Probably part of some plan.” Riku stated flatly leaning in the doorway of the Gummi. Donald nodded in agreement.

“Come on guys, he saved my life, _our_ lives!” Sora pointed out, scowling to Donald in particular, “We’d have never gotten to the rest of Organization if it weren’t for him!”

“I thought you said he _died_ ,” Kairi muttered quietly, keeping close to Sora.

Axel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Getting this out of the way: Yes, I was dead. Yes, I’m really back. No, I don’t know how. Just got over it. Can we move on now?”

“Dead?!” Mae echoed incredulously, tearing her eyes away from Meg for the first time.

“Could have faked it.” Riku stated, tone stone cold.

“No Riku, I was _there_!” Sora stressed, taking a step toward his childhood friend.

“I was… _definitely_ dead,” Axel put in, “I don’t know how I came back from the Black, but I was definitely _there_.” Axel shifted, crossing his arms over his chest, “But I bet you know what that’s like, I don’t have to tell _you_.”

Riku shot the redhead a cold look. “Enough.” Meg ordered in a sigh. “I don’t know what yours or Donald’s deal is, but considering he kept me from drowning and then from freezing I’m going to say he’s not the conniving Nobody or whatever you think.”

“Are you still…?” Kairi trailed off uncomfortably, fingers unconsciously twitching over the fabric of Sora’s sleeve.

Axel admired the effort considering what he’d done to her. He relaxed his stance again and shook his head. “No, I’m not a Nobody anymore,” he answered her unfinished question, “And no, I don’t know how that happened either. I didn’t…even…realize it myself for a while.” He subconsciously glanced down at Meg.

“And the Organization isn’t back.” Meg added before anyone could bring it up. Riku looked less then convinced but kept his mouth shut mostly because Sora seemed so happy about what was more than likely a sign of another very bad year. Let him have the moment.

“I’m sorry; I’m still hung up on ‘ _dead_ ’!” Mae spoke up again, looking around the group, “Are we _all_ dead?” She turned back to her sister, “And you mentioned almost freezing, _drowning_ ; what the hell happened?!”

“No, Mae. He _was_ dead now he’s not. I don’t get it, but I can say with absolute certainty he _is_ alive now, heartbeat and all.” Meg sighed holding her sister by the arms and talking calmly and carefully. “And I’m fine, okay, there was a little accident and I ended up taking an unexpected dip. That’s it. I’m fine.”

Mae pursed her lips, panic softened to concern. “How long ago?” she asked quietly, moving hair away from her sister’s forehead, “You feeling ok?”

“Yesterday and I’m fine.” Meg repeated.

Mae gnawed on her lip, biting back a dozen more concerns. “Ok,” she conceded. “But next chance we get I’m getting you all the cold buster tea and orange juice I can scrounge up, ok?” she chuckled weakly. Meg nodded slowly biting back a grim comment about how unlikely that was.

“Gwarsh Meg, do we need to worry about ya getting sick?” Goofy asked in concern.

“No, no, I don’t get sick that easily, not anymore. It’s just when I do, it tends to be a bit of a―” Meg sighed, dropping her arms from Mae’s to play against her own. “Well, we’ll say it’s a bit of an ordeal.”

“Which means the sooner we can get off these terrible floating rocks, the better,” Mae announced, huffing a sigh and placing her hands on her hips, “If this is supposed to be Atlantica, I don’t want to stay a minute more.”

“Yeah, this place sure is kinda spooky.” Goofy agreed looking back to the fog bank.

“Alright then, let’s get going.” Riku sighed turning and disappearing into the Gummi.

Axel looked around at each member of the group gathered. Sora had seen him, so he didn’t have to worry about that anymore and Meg and everyone else was distracted by the brightly colored ship breaking _goodness_ knew how many laws of the World Order. He’d had his moment being the center of attention, which he hadn’t really enjoyed let alone _wanted_ , and took the opportunity to slink away.

Meg glanced sideways at him as he slipped away and almost turned to say something to him, but decided that if she called attention to him he wouldn’t be able to slip away and that was really what he wanted. She turned her attention to Goofy who was explaining to Mae that Atlantica was an underwater kingdom and making sure that wouldn’t be a problem with Meg’s health.

Donald squawked, “What took you guys so long?!”

“They had to _find_ it first!” Mae defended, “And then find the rest of us!”

“And we had to fish it out of the ocean!” Sora added, “Which is _really_ hard when you’re on a dinky raft!”

“Weren’t we _leaving_!?” Riku called leaning out the door of the Gummi.

“Alright, the natives are getting restless, we should go,” Mae chuckled, patting Meg’s shoulder as she turned back to the Gummi.

“All aboard!” Goofy cheered. “Huh, kinda feel like we’re missing someone.” The Knight observed after a moment’s thought looking around. “Uuuuh, where did Axel go?”

“He left.” Meg said quietly.

“WAAAAAK!” Donald shrieked, looking around the group frantically, “Where did he go?!”

Meg shrugged and shook her head. “He didn’t say anything, but I get the impression he only stayed as long as he did because he knew Sora would hunt him down if he didn’t.”

“Aww! Now I feel bad!” Sora sagged, clearly disappointed.

“Was he _wrong_?” Mae raised an eyebrow at him, and the Keyblade Hero responded by scuffing his shoe on the paneling of the Gummi ship floor, sulking further with a mumbled ‘no’.

Meg giggled softly before pursing her lips and looking back. “I am kinda worried about just leaving him stranded here though.”

“If there is one thing Axel is capable of, it’s looking out for himself.” Riku snorted. “Trust me. He’ll turn up again.”

Sora perked up dramatically. “At least we know he’s ok though! That’s good!” he offered probably more to himself than any of his companions, “And he’s got a heart now! That’s awesome!”

“Ok, first he’s _dead_ , and now he has a heart where before he apparently didn’t?” Mae furrowed her eyebrows while she tried to piece it all together, “Am I the only one lost here!?”

“It’s a weird side effect thing of the Heartless.” Meg said slowly.

“More or less.” Riku agreed. “But the details are something we can talk about _in_ the air.” He said dropping pointedly into his seat.

“Looks like we’re off!” Kairi spoke up at last, notably more relaxed than she had been since they first ran into the former Nobody.  
  
“Yeah, and let’s make sure not to crash this time!” Mae commented pointedly, “I _really_ didn’t find the scenario enjoyable!”  
  
Sora chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, “We can try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Simply & Hibiscus Note: Soooo Hibiscus has started school again. It's a thing. Not for Simply, she's a graduated loaf. Meaning prepare for fluctuating update date~! But you WILL get one once a month, even if it's by the skin of our teeth.
> 
> Also, thank you for not screaming at us for cliffhanging you on chapter one.


	3. Atlantica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darling it's better down where it's wetter... mostly.

****

     Goofy ‘waddled’ through the water over to them. “Gwarsh, it’s been a while since we’ve been under the sea.” he commented trying to re-adjust to ocean movement.

Riku floated there, staring at his icy, opalescent tail and wondering where his shirt had gone. He flicked his fin and went much further than he expected. Riku managed to maneuver his way to an upright position, despite his hair’s attempts to impede his progress. “Yeah, this is gonna take some adjustment,” he sighed.

Sora did a flip in the water, head almost able to touch his familiar blue, dolphin tail. "Man, I've missed this place!"

Donald sighed, descending a little, octopus tentacles fanning out. "It took a lot of magic to adapt all seven of us," he huffed, bubbles floating to the surface above.

Sora looked around after taking in the fact that they were back in the world of Atlantica. "Hey, any of you guys seen any of the _girls_?" he questioned, turning around toward his male companions around him.

          Kairi looked at herself awkwardly: she had a tail, fins, and scalloped shells to cover her breasts. The color of her tail reminded her of her lucky charm, with a similar pearly shine that matched her shells, with a wide white tailfin. Stray hairs floated in front of her face and she pushed them back, feeling them bend around her hands as she looked around for the others, not being able to see over the coral wall from where she sat on the reef.

Meg had slowly drifted to the bottom from where she had been dumped and stared up at the ‘sky’ that rippled above her. “Water,” she murmured to herself. _Well,_ _Axel sure would have hated this…_ she caught herself mid-thought and shook her head. _Focus! There are more important things to worry about, like why you’re not drowning!_ She berated herself. The girl made an attempt to move, but her legs felt so strange, lumped into one, incased in something very confining. She propped herself up to look, and her jaw dropped and eyes widened at what she discovered. She, like all the other ‘humans’, had only one lower limb; a tail of rich teal that faded into a stormy grey at the ends of the feathery fins. In light of that Meg looked down at her torso and sighed in relief. She _was_ covered, not very much, just a pair of pearly teal shells but still. Meg folded her arms over her chest, her hands on opposite shoulders and flicked her teal tail in attempt to get herself up, but only succeeded in stirring up ‘dust’. She coughed and sneezed, sitting up and tucking her tail beneath her, trying to wave the murk away.

Mae rubbed the back of her head, where she hit it on the coral wall next to her. She barely noticed that she felt almost weightless, but gasped at the bubbles floating up around her. She began to tread water to keep herself stationary and surprised herself at the current her feet were making. She looked down at herself and gawked at the sky blue scales around her waist, with a feathery fin on each hip fading from the light blue to a stormy shade of grey with her tailfin more of the same. Then it hit her  _if the entire bottom of my body had been replaced by a tail, along with the corresponding clothes..._ She thought for a moment, before hesitantly looking down at her torso. Luckily she was 'covered'―if you could call it that―like the other two girls, the pair of scallop shells were stormy grey at their base and fading up into pale blue. She cursed and crossed her arms over her chest, muttering agitatedly about the amount of skin exposure.

She noticed Kairi and Meg were there with her, but there was no sign of the guys. She looked around, her head just high enough to see over the coral wall, and lo and behold, there they were. Sora looked past Riku and the others with his head tilted to one side and swam over and peeked over the wall, Riku looking over his shoulder. Mae was scowling as they arrived, “I’m gonna _roast_ Donald.”

“Well lucky for him that’s _physically_ impossible at the moment.” Riku snorted.

Mae raised an eyebrow at Riku. “The duck still better sleep with one eye open for a while,” she seethed, and the two couldn’t tell if her arms were crossed still due to shyness or disgruntlement.

Meg continued to sit on the bottom away from the others, her head tipped back watching them. She was about to make some comment to call their attention when another merperson shot towards them overhead, laughing as a tiny red speck she identified as a crab barreled after them.

"Sebastian!" Sora's attention was averted to the small red crustacean, his face lighting up at the sight of another old friend, “Down here!”

The crab came to a sudden halt at the call, glancing around with his companion before spotting them. "Sora! How have you been?" the crab asked with a thick Jamaican accent, swimming up to them. "I'm glad you're here, perhaps you can help me get Ariel back on task."

“Again?!” Donald demanded, pumping his way over with his lower tentacles.

“With Ariel going between her palace on shore and here, we’re short on time as it is!” the crab shot the redheaded woman joining him a look, something she shrugged off with practiced ease.

"Oh Sebastian," she sighed, rolling bluish-green eyes, then redirected her attention to the Keyblade Hero and his company. "Sora! Goofy! Donald! It’s so great to see you back!" she beamed, clapping her hands. "Who're your friends?" she asked curiously.

"Maybe they're the ones Sora's been looking for?" Flounder offered, peeking out from behind her.

"Ahyuk half of them are, that there's Riku, and that’s Kairi, Sora's best friends." Goofy introduced. “And the two other girls are Meg, and Mae.”

Meg waved a bit from where she sat below them. “I’m Meg, that’s Mae.” She said pointing.

“Well my name’s Ariel,” she replied swimming over slowly, eyes wide in curious wonder, “Wow, twins aren’t something we see very often!”

“We’re trying to find the world they came from,” Donald put in, shrugging with his hands out like platforms. Ariel nodded absentmindedly, hardly noting him.

Sebastian sighed "We have another performance coming up! Would you all _please_ help out again?"

"Performance?" Meg asked, intrigued.

"I don't sing," Riku stated flatly.

Sora looked to the others. “Looks like we’re headed to the concert hall,” he beamed and grabbed Kairi’s hand to lead her and the others.

“Uh Sora!” Goofy called pausing the young Keyblade Hero in his tracks. “Maybe we should teach the others how to swim first?” He suggested with a chuckle, looking particularly at the twins near the ocean floor.

Ariel giggled. “Yeah, we can manage that.” She said.

Even with the lessons the new comers were still slow, but Ariel and Sora were patient helping them out as they made their way towards the palace. “Where did Donald and Goofy go?” Kairi asked after a while.

Sora paused, looking around for the two. “Huh. Guess they didn’t feel like waiting u―”

“WAAAAAK!” Donald’s squawked as he came from around the bend, “Heartless!”

Ariel gasped before powering forward. “Not again!” Sora, _Kingdom Key_ ready, was right behind her. Sebastian and Flounder sped off to warn the sea king, covered by Goofy who joined the fight by spiraling into the beasts.

The Heartless changed course heading back towards Meg who dove underneath one and away. “They have _sea_ Heartless too!?” she cried to no one in particular.

Sora went for a Sheltering Zone before it could spawn more, but was a touch too late, thus creating three more Sea Neons to add to the four that had approached with the Sheltering Zone. And he could see some Screwdrivers coming from further off.

“I have no legs!” Mae called with an edge of panic, swatting at the Sea Neons approaching with her tail. She sent one spinning, tentacle over blobby head, away as its little friend advanced on her. It spun its tentacles around fast while its head stayed stationary. Mae scowled, "Cheater.” It advanced even quicker than she expected and she had to scramble to raise her hands up against it. She looked up to the sound of slapping tentacles, but didn’t feel them against her arms. She opened her eyes and if it hadn’t been for the massive gold guard, she wouldn’t have noticed the weapon clenched in her hand, held flush against her arm. She flung the Sea Neon away and caught sight of the first one regaining awareness and swimming over again. “Alright, let’s see how this thing handles in action…”

Riku batted another one away from Kairi, while Goofy sliced through more. He looked over at the older twin, noting the gold and purple blade she was using to beat a Sea Neon. He honestly wasn’t surprised she had gotten a Keyblade, and was quite happy it showed up _now_ so he had less to worry about.

“Thanks guys,” Kairi huffed to Goofy and Riku, Keyblade out, but still a little shaky _._ Her eyes shifted from side to side, watching for Heartless. _I've got Ariel at my back, I can survive. I can fight too,_ _she reminded herself_ **.**

The Neon came at Mae spinning, and once again the twin raised her Keyblade to block it. It slapped against the blade like the other, unable to move forward and too stubborn to back off. She caught sight of the other Sea Neon coming back to its senses. When it finally got close enough, Mae tilted her Keyblade away from it and quickly slashed through them both with as much strength as she could. The Neon she'd hit before exploded into a puff of bubbles, Darkness, and a heart. The more offensive Heartless however, still persevered.

“WAAAK! Meg! Why don’t you use your Keyblade already?!” Donald hollered when he looked back and saw her lingering uncertainly in the back.

“I don’t―I can’t―! You didn’t―!” she protested, stammering.

“It’s not hard Meg!” Riku encouraged, smacking a Screwdriver away. “Remember how you did it last time?”

Meg thought about it, as much as she could with the battle going on. She just remembered being scared and thinking if those things got to her she’d get separated from the others. The girl looked around wildly for a second until she spotted one of the Screwdrivers swimming towards her. The timid twin let out a shriek of distress. The temperature of the water around her dropped several degrees out of nowhere and the Heartless that had been coming at her now had an ice head.

Mae was given a spare moment while her remaining Heartless was still dazed. She caught sight of a pale blue glow underneath her and looked down. "Sis that's awesome!" she called excitedly when she noted the frozen Heartless rising uncontrollably to the surface, “How’d you do that?!”

Meg blinked, watching frost crawl back away from the end of her Keyblade towards her hand. "I dunno!" she cried. She hadn’t really adjusted to the way the Keyblade just _appeared_ despite Donald’s summon drills, but the concept was utterly eclipsed by the fact that ice had fired from the tip like a shotgun.

“It’s okay Meg! It’s just magic!” Sora called reassuringly.

"Well whatever you did, do it again!" Mae hollered down before turning her attention back to the rousing Neon in front of her long enough to knock it around until it disappeared in a Dark, bubbly mass. She shot downward toward Sora and the huge whale-of-a-Heartless that had arrived with its three Screwdriver cronies. Sora killed one and the puff of Darkness was just clearing when she arrived. "Need a little help on the front lines?" she asked as she swatted at a Screwdriver. Sora nodded and muttered a quick 'Thanks' before turning so they were back to back and they both continued fighting.

Meg sputtered frantically. “I-I don’t know how I did it the first time!” she cried dodging a Heartless and swinging her blade around in an attempt to smack it away. There was no discharge of ice that time, but she did notice the temperature fluctuate again and a little bit of frost tinted her blue blade.

“Meg, listen!” She looked up at Donald. “It’s not that hard, you just got to tell it to!”

She wanted to ask what exactly she was supposed to be talking to, but instead the girl looked at the Heartless closest, held her Keyblade in both hands, and pointed at it. “Oh please work,” she murmured. Once again the temperature dropped and a blast of ice shot out from the tip of her Keyblade freezing the Heartless.

“Wow, good shot Meg!” Goofy cheered watching another Screwdriver struggle to keep from floating upwards with its suddenly frozen head.

Ariel came up behind the younger twin, steadying her shaking hands with a soothing stroke down one of her arms. “You’re doing great,” she encouraged into her ear softly, guiding her aim towards various Heartless around the area. The twin nodded chewing her lip. She felt, that maybe she was getting the hang of the odd sensation. If she didn’t think too hard about it.

Ariel left Meg’s side and swam quickly forward, spiraling with her arms spread wide at the same Heartless fearlessly. "Get rid of the Screwdrivers first," she heard Sora instruct, "The Aquatank can only do any real damage when it hitches a ride on them." He smirked a little, "Other than that they're pretty much useless." The princess giggled and Mae nodded, diving down and under the Aquatank with its supporting Screwdrivers. Sora went up and started dealing with the Aquatank. Meg shifted her focus too, though she wasn’t exactly sure which were the Screwdrivers, but logically they were the ones holding up the big Heartless.

Riku felt his skin prickle in goose-bumps as the ice from the unexpectedly magical twin rocketed past him, smashing against one of the Heartless in his way, clearing him to attack the screwdrivers. Kairi, needless to say, was a bit more hesitant and swam closer at a slower pace, still not quite used to fighting these creatures of the Dark. While Mae, on the other hand, slashed at the Heartless’ exposed, frozen backs and they were gone in no time once Riku joined.

The younger twin lowered her Keyblade slowly. “Is that the last of them?” she asked.

Goofy turned in a circle, “Looks like it.”

Riku double-checked Goofy’s assessment for himself before dismissing his Keyblade. “Well, looks like we had some more strokes of unexpected luck,” the Tin Man observed looking back at the twins.

“So, that whole ice thing is, normal?” Meg asked quietly.

"Perfectly!" Sora answered, panting a little but beaming, "Blizzard was the first spell I learned too; it's amazing that you even learned it on accident. And also: YOU HAVE KEYBLADES!"

"So it's like, normal, and not at the same time, that I just did that?" Meg asked tipping her head to one side.

Sora nodded with a smile as the group congregated again. "Let’s hurry to the palace before we get caught in another battle!" Ariel suggested, red eyebrows furrowed contemplatively, "Warn Daddy about the Heartless being back."

“It’s right this way! Come on let’s go!” Goofy called swimming off. Ariel followed, swimming in the direction of her sea-home with Sora and Kairi not far behind with Donald.

“Lucked out that time, didn’t we Sis?” Mae chuckled, giving her sister a light nudge in the ribs with her elbow before holding her hand out to her, smile softening, “Come on, let’s go.”

“Yeah guess so,” Meg murmured falling in with the others.

“You did pretty good for your first time New Girls,” Riku said to Mae as he swam past.

“Yeah, you two did a great job!” Goofy agreed. “Meg sure did pick up on that magic stuff real quick huh?” he asked Donald.

The octo-fowl scratched the underside of his bill. “It’s weird that she was just _able_ to do it though,” he answered.

“ _Everything_ surrounding us is a little weird, Donald,” Mae replied, shaking her head a little.

"Come on guys! Just a little bit further!" Ariel called, sweeping her hand through the water in a beckoning motion.  
  
Kairi looked up at the shimmering golden sea-castle they were approaching. "Wow..." she cooed, taking in the sight.

The younger twin eyes widened, “Oh wow.” She echoed.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Ariel looked back at the redwood-haired girl with a smile, hands clasped behind her back. Kairi nodded, still admiring their destination as the castle drew closer.

“You can say _that_ again,” Mae concurred, head tilted up at it. Sora and Ariel chuckled a little at everyone’s reaction. “This is where you _live_?” Mae asked the Aquatic Princess, astonished.

Ariel shook her head. “I grew up here, but since I got married I’ve only made visits to help out with Sebastian’s musicals.”

“We gonna go, or float around gawking?” Riku asked with a roll of his eyes.

“Do you just have _no_ appreciation for the scenery?” Mae asked him, “Did no one ever tell you ‘take time to stop and smell the roses’? Seriously.”

“Heartless invasion is more pressing then the smell of roses,” he made gestures, “Especially since there are none.”

“Whatever, Mr. Literal,” Mae tossed out, rolling her eyes before beginning to swim ahead towards the glimmering palace, “Let’s get going so I can get my _clothes_ back.” Sora threw his head back and laughed, leading the way again into the open, coral castle.

"Hey you guys!" Ariel called back to them in a hushed tone, ducking behind a pillar, “We’re here, hurry up!”  
  
“Ariel?” a booming, fatherly voice resounded through the throne room, making Mae and Kairi jump while Ariel and Meg winced, “Who are you whispering to?”

“Just friends Daddy!” she called back and swam out into the open and down the entrance hall. Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed her with Kairi and Riku after them and the twins bringing up the reluctant rear. Ariel swam up to her father's throne, giving him a peck on the cheek, “Look who came to visit!” She glanced over at the assembled group.

The mer-king had a great white beard, mustache, and billowing hair, a blue fin similar to Ariel’s, and a simple, gold crown on his head. The gold trident stood in its stand next to the throne. Mae straightened up with tense shoulders as he regarded them.

“Sora, Goofy, Donald?” Triton greeted with surprise, eyes widened at the sight of all the extra faces, new and old. “What brings you here? And who have you brought?”

“Hello Your Majesty,” Donald greeted respectfully with a bow, Sora followed smoothly in suit as Donald continued. “These are Sora’s friends Riku and Kairi.” Kairi’s bow was more awkward, as she kept glancing at Sora for clues as the boy straightened and picked up where Donald left off.

“Over there are the twins, Meg, the one with the teal fin, and Mae with the light blue,” Sora gestured to each of the bowed twins in turn.

“Welcome to Atlantica,” the Sea King greeted heartily before he turned to the three he already knew, eyebrows furrowed and repeated, “What brings you all back here?”

“We’re trying to get the twins back to their world Your Majesty,” Sora answered respectfully, “But it looks like the Heartless showed back up too, so we’re just stopping in to take care of things.” Satisfied with his answer, King Triton nodded his head to the boy.

"How long have the Heartless been back Your Majesty?" Riku asked.

"Only for the past few days," Triton answered, thinking a little as he spoke, "but it has been getting gradually worse by the day."

"Isn't there some way to get rid of them and make sure they stay away?" Meg asked, tugging on a strand of her hair.

"Actually, yeah…" Sora began, gears in his mind already turning, "On my first adventure, I was locking Keyholes to the hearts of the worlds, and that kept them off for a while **—** " He looked up suddenly to the Sea King. " **—** Is it possible that they came unlocked again?"  
  
"Well," Triton scratched his bearded chin, "I suppose it _may_ be possible…"  
  
"Sweet!" Mae came in suddenly, pumping a fist through the water, "So you know where that Keyhole-thingy is from your first visit, right Sora? So we just re-lock that and we're off again, right? YES! I’ll get to wear _clothes_ again! Let’s check where it was last time!”

“That’d be my grotto!” Ariel chimed in, Mae’s excitement rubbing off on the undersea Princess, “If we’re lucky we can get this taken care of and the musical won’t have to be postponed!”

King Triton chuckled a little to himself. "You'd best be off then," he stated. Sora nodded with a smile and turned, swimming away after gaining the Sea King's go ahead, and Donald followed. Kairi watched him for a moment, looked back to King Triton, before bowing briefly again and heading off after Sora, Ariel followed as well after kissing her father on the cheek again.

Meg bowed deeply. “Your Highness,” she said softly to join Goofy who had waved before taking off. Riku nodded his head and followed.

“Which way to this grotto of yours, Ariel?” Mae asked, swimming backward just ahead of the fiery-haired princess.

“Closer to where we met up with you guys than the palace,” Ariel replied.

“We’ll be there in no time!” Sora encouraged, and Ariel nodded, speeding up a little to lead the way to the familiar boulder that hid the entrance to her grotto, pulling it aside easily when they arrived.

Mae slid into the cavern after Ariel and instantly her eyes widened at all that lay inside. The natural shape of the rock shelves created a strange sort of optical illusion that made it feel as though they went up endlessly, even with the hole in the top of the coned ceiling to let light in the little cavern. “Where do we start?” the elder twin stated in awe as her brown eyes traveled from shelf to shelf, knickknack to bobble.

“Well last time it was over here.” Goofy said pointing to the trident-shaped mark on the wall.

“Doesn’t look like it’s there now…” Riku observed.

"Maybe we need something to _make_ it appear again," Donald suggested, looking under an overly large clam shell.  
  
"Make it appear?" Mae had been swimming on her back along some of the more empty shelves already, to see if it had been hiding on the bottom side of a shelf. She peeked over the edge of a shelf down at the group, "You saying there's more to this than just finding a Keyblade-sized Keyhole?"  
  
"Last time we used Daddy's Trident," Ariel answered, looking through her old collection, nostalgia sparkling in her eyes as she toyed with an old, washed-out porcelain doll with gentle fingers. She looked down at Sora, who was looking amongst the seaweed that had grown around the base of the rock formation in the center of the grotto, "We can go back and ask if we could use it again?"

“Can we manage without it?” Riku asked, “It’s going to be a hassle if we have to swim all the way there and back.”

“Not if it’s just a couple of us going,” Ariel offered, “I can head back to the palace for Daddy’s Trident while the rest of you search here. Who knows, maybe we won't need it this time!”

“That’s a good idea.” Riku agreed.

“You sure you don’t mind Ariel?” Goofy asked.

“Not at all,” the mer-Princess assured him. Mae gave Ariel a casual salute with a curt nod as she exited before turning back to her search, squinting at the shelf above her and running her fingers over the rock.

          “I think we've looked this place over pretty well, why don't we look around in the area outside?" Mae proposed after a while.

“I was thinking so too,” Sora concurred, looking up from the throngs of seaweed to the others, “What do you all think?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Goofy agreed.

“We should stay close though,” Donald advised, “So Ariel can find us when she gets back, _then_ we can branch out more.”

Kairi put down the jewelry box she’d been distracted with, “Sounds like a good idea.”

“Alright then,” Sora nodded, “Let’s get out there and start looking!”

Riku nodded and swam past Meg to move the rock that had closed behind native Princess and held it open as everyone swam out.

Sora immediately went to start looking. Mae moved to a large bush of seaweed that swallowed the not-fish-half of her body, Donald had found another clam to look under, and Kairi moved out of view behind a large boulder.

Little more than a minute passed before Meg called out, “Um, looks like we got visitors,” pointing towards a cluster of Heartless.

"Let's hope this isn't another long fight," Donald sighed

"I'm with you there," Sora agreed, readying _Kingdom Key_ at his side.

Mae summoned her Keyblade and followed Sora when he swam towards the approaching Heartless. Kairi followed behind hesitantly with her Keyblade, wary of entering the fray, but determined not to be useless in yet another battle. Donald wasn't far behind, but hung towards the back, ready with his magic.

Meg blinked. "Are uh, normal Heartless that _big_?" she asked, waving her finger in a circle towards the Heartless.

Mae squinted at as she swam, and the closer she got, the more she realized it wasn’t several Heartless at all, just one _immense_ Heartless. "Crap!" she stopped short next to Sora who had done so himself. "Donald you freaking jinxed us!" she tossed back angrily over her shoulder. Kairi's eyes grew wide in fear as she came to a stop a ways behind them.

“Boss!” Sora called out and doubled back, to try and get an advantage in location, “Kairi! Get back with Donald and Meg; I don’t want you getting hurt!” The Princess of Heart readily agreed.

Mae had moved to follow Sora, but didn’t see much point really. The entire area was open, the only thing backwards was the grotto and that seemed to be more of an obstruction than shelter if they were going to take this thing on. She tightened her grip on the hilt of her purple and gold Keyblade, eyes narrowing at the beast approaching. It looked like a giant jellyfish with its black and red Heartless emblem plastered onto its dome of a body. At the end of each of its stingers, there was somehow, beyond the laws of physics, fire. “No fair with the fire underwater!” she yelled, scowling.

“INCOMING!" Meg screamed as a barrage of fiery projectiles rushed towards them. The brunette managed to maneuver her body with a twist and an arch to dodge most of the attacks and froze one. Riku summoned his winged blade and smashed that one away; the projectile flew a few feet before ricocheting off Goofy’s shield back at the Heartless.

Mae swam to meet the Flame-o’-War, scowl still firmly set into her features as she dodged. She swung at its dome, but her Keyblade bounced back with such force that she nearly lost her grip. The elder twin let out an exasperated sigh as she reclaimed her hold. “Stingers it is then,” she told herself and dove down.

The younger sister aimed past Mae freezing the stinger she was going after, limiting its movements and stopping it from bombarding them with fireballs for the moment. Sora came up beside Mae and whapped it a few times where the stingers attached to the body, and that seemed to be effective, at least while it was stunned and extinguished. The Heartless was already beginning to melt through the ice and Donald hit each stinger again with a Blizzara attack. Mae noted Sora's strategy and began to hit it in the same place on a different stinger, tossing back a ‘thank you’ to her sister and Donald. Riku followed suit, while occasionally having to dodge Meg’s misfires. She apologized every time, in-between squeaking in distress and frantically swimming out of the way of stray fireballs.

Kairi stood just behind Meg and Donald, clutching her Keyblade anxiously to her chest and desperately wishing she could do more. She couldn’t fight that thing, she could admit that, and she couldn’t do magic like Donald or even Meg, but there just had to be _something_. Suddenly she remembered, back in Ariel’s grotto, she had noticed a small stash of Potions tucked away while they had searched for the Keyhole. Without another moment’s hesitation, the Princess bolted off for the grotto’s entrance, using all her strength to move the boulder and slip inside. Unfortunately, the sudden movement away from the group caught the Heartless’ attention, and ―even with the ice and the three bashing at its appendages and Goofy playing defense for the spell-slingers―it still had the ability to lob a fireball at the redwood-haired princess.

“Kairi!” Sora cried over his shoulder, torn between the task at hand and going back to check on his childhood friend. The urge was only strengthened when she didn’t answer, and he nearly _did_ go after her, when she reappeared, squeezing out from behind the bounder of Ariel’s grotto, potion bottles cradled to her chest.

Goofy appeared between the Princess and another incoming attack. “Gwarsh, you alright Kairi?”

“I’m fine!” she affirmed before calling out again to the Keyblade Master beyond, “I’m alright!” And swam back up to Donald and Meg with Goofy who made sure to defend her as well as her precious cargo.  
   
Meg paused in her hurried freezing of the swinging appendages, turning to the duck, trembling slightly. “I’m getting lightheaded, is that…a thing?” she asked, frightened.

“You are probably running out of what we affectionately call MP,” Donald answered and when he received no response he looked back to Meg with an un-amused look on his face. “You’re running out of _magic_ , or for short, MP,” he stated blandly.

“Where is there a ‘P’ in ‘magic’!?” Meg asked looking around franticly.

Donald fired another blizzard attack, having to do it less often now that there were fewer stingers to shoot at. He turned back to Meg with an exasperated sigh. “There is no ‘p’. ‘P’ stands for ‘power’. ‘MP’ stands for ‘magic’. ‘Power’,” he explained, a poorly hidden irritated tone in his voice, “You can drink an Ether to get it back without waiting.” He fired another blizzard attack.

The girl franticly went to search her pockets for an Ether then panicked for a second when she remembered she didn’t have pockets, before Kairi handed her one. Meg downed it, spun around throwing the bottle at the jellyfish Heartless and fired off a few blasts of Magic. “Whoa…” she blinked.

“Helpful, isn’t it?” Donald remarked.

Sora finished his combo on the sixth stinger and it was rendered useless. The Heartless slumped over, dazed, and Sora proceeded to swim upward to start bashing in its dome, finding it significantly less resistant than when Mae had tried earlier. He kept alert for when the Heartless roused to do its worst in its final moment. A few hits later, Mae came up to help.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready for this thing to be _dead_!" Mae called over the din. Sora nodded and continued his bashing; now with Mae's help it would go quicker and maybe they could finish it off before it had the chance to wake back up. Riku swam up with an upper slash, spinning around and hitting it again in time with another blast of ice. “Ballerina boy,” Mae teased under her breath and dodged a thrashing stinger as the Heartless began to come out of its daze, flailing wildly with its remaining stingers.

At the first signs Sora backed off immediately, past experience telling him to get clear of whatever new, desperate move the Heartless had to throw at them. Meg aimed, and a blast of ice ricocheted off Mae's Keyblade and hit the Heartless’ dome.

"Ouch," Riku commented vaguely, as the beast thrashed about in pain.

The Heartless melted through the ice, surprisingly faster than before. The Flame-o’-War trembled and the water around the ends of the stingers became heated, reaching temperatures high enough to make the water around them boil. Mae watched as a large steam-filled bubble came up and popped upon impact with the tip of her Keyblade. Another, about the size of her head, came up without her noticing and popped under her chin. Breathing it in, Mae barked out a couple coughs. “Ok,” she semi-rasped, one hand pressed against her chest, face skewed with discomfort, “I’ll admit that breathing steam―” Cough. “―is unpleasant.” She took a breath to compensate for the coughing, but more bubbles had begun popping on her and caused her to cough more into her hand, “but there is something―” Her last few words were strained, trying to hold off an inevitable bout of coughing and hacking, and the bubbles were only multiplying; popping on her tail, Keyblade, elbows, and so on. “―something that is _not right_ with that steam!” She broke out into hacking coughs again.

Riku’s hand clamped over his mouth, this was not simple steam. It had a distinct bitter taste, something like rotten citrus with some equally old miso, and it burned his eyes, nose, mouth and throat, making him feel weak. “Mae! It’s poison, get out of there!” he yelled at her from behind his hand. Kairi gasped upon hearing Riku’s words, clutching her remedies tighter to her chest.

The Heartless seemed now to be swatting around without purpose, succeeding in popping more of the bubbles it had created, and Mae was still amongst them all, holding herself around her middle with one arm and doubled-over, coughing into her other hand. The water was cloudy with the poison from the bubbles and the roar of the boil surrounding her drowned out anything else. Her eyes stung, her chest hurt, and she couldn’t help breathing in the rank cloud every time her incessant coughing would give her the chance. None of it compared however, to her throat. Her throat _burned_ , and her coughing made it raw to the point that it felt as if it were tearing itself apart. It could only be by a miracle that the Heartless’ stingers weren’t hitting her as well; it might have helped shove her out.

Outside of the cloud of poison, Meg had dropped her Keyblade as she doubled and also began to cough violently.

Riku shot forward back into the cloud, grabbing Mae around her waist and dragging her out of the death cloud. “Mae, Mae, are you alright?” he asked, panic edging into his voice, but she couldn’t answer and her coughs sounded strained. “Come on breathe!” he ordered a second before he noticed the puffs of red starting to come from her mouth with every cough. Blood. She was coughing up blood in the middle of the ocean. “Donald, change us back _now_!”

The octopi-duck looked at him flabbergasted. He agreed, Mae _was_ in bad shape…“But Riku, the Heartless―!” he argued.

“Mae’s coughing up blood!” he shouted, “She’ll attract every shark in the territory! I’ll take her back to the Gummi!”

Kairi piped up next, “But Riku, if Donald changes you back now―!”

“―Sharks!” Riku snapped.

Donald deliberated for a brief moment, but listening to Mae’s continued and worsening coughing, laced now by pained whimpers, it quickly became easy to decide. He turned to the two and readied his staff. “Be ready to swim, Riku,” he warned. Riku nodded and took a deep breath, holding it and the instant the transformation occurred he shot to the surface.

Meg whimpered a little trying to straighten and catch her breath. “Let’s get this over with!” she wheezed, coughing a few more times.

Sora focused all his efforts on making this jellyfish Heartless sushi. As soon as the poison attack ended Sora charged back in, slamming at multiple stingers at a time to make up for the two who’d left, a chill running by as Donald went back to freezing the once-again flaming stingers. Soon Goofy was at his side spinning wilding into the stingers like a deadly top.

Kairi bit into her lip. There had to be _something_ she could do; especially now that situation was even more dire. She looked down at the Potions in her arms, then up where Riku had swum up to. Without much more thought she bolted upwards, keeping her eyes fixed on where Riku had broken the surface just moment before.

Riku hadn’t bothered to shut the door behind him when he’d taken Mae inside, and Kairi was able to haul herself up to lean on her arms on the Gummi Ship floor inside the door. “Riku?” she called worriedly, Mae’s coughing was sounding, if possible, worse, and the Princess briefly wondered if Mae would even be able to get anything _down_.

Riku stuck his head out of the sleeping quarters. “Kairi? What? How did you…?”

The Princess shifted her weight to one arm, pushing the Potion bottles that had been in her arms further inside. “See if she can take them,” she urged desperately, keeping a single bottle as she pulled her arm back, “Maybe they can help!” She watched her childhood friend glance down at them. “I’ve gotta go back down to help the others, but we’ll be back soon, alright!” she assured him and pushed herself up on straight arms before letting herself fall back into the water.

Riku nodded and picked up a Potion going over to Mae lying in one of the bunks. “Hey if you can try taking this, it will help,” he said setting a bottle down beside her.

Mae nodded jerkily through her coughs, sitting up with one arm wrapped around her ribs, the other covering her mouth. Blood mixed with the seawater still clinging to her skin of her palm, seeping out between her fingers. She knew it was safer for everyone that she was out of the water, but the clean seawater was so much more soothing on her throat than the harsh coastal air was. And she was clothed again, but soaking and cold. Now that she wasn’t submerged in saltwater, her coughs made her eyes water, tears slipping nearly undetected down her wet cheeks. She _wished_ she could have passed out by now, her throat and her chest and her lungs and her _everything_ were in so much pain that she thought maybe she _should_ have passed out by now. She pried her arm away from her side to take the Potion bottle, hugging it so tight to her chest she thought it should have been crushed. If she could just stop coughing for a _second_ , she could get it open and down her throat, but her body was so tense it made _any_ sort of movement hard. The coughing wasn’t going to allow her more than a second or two to get it down.

Riku had left after giving her the Potion, returning with a blanket which he wrapped around her. He cocked his head to the side for a moment, silver hair dripping steadily and plastered to his forehead, then reached out, taking the bottle back and crouched down beside her, opening it and holding it out to her. Thinking the less she had to do, the better it would be.

Mae had been hesitant in allowing the bottle to be pried from her grip, but somehow he maneuvered it away from her. Her brief gasps for air between fits only irritated her throat more and some particularly harsh bouts left her lightheaded, some even continuing after she’d run out of air and silently persisted until she was finally able to gasp and begin the vicious cycle anew.

Her free hand, which had been replaced back around her aching ribs, twitched as she debated with herself whether to take the open bottle back or wait. She didn’t want to risk spilling it in her convulsions, but if she had to take it from the Tin Man she may not have time before she was coughing again. He just stayed where he was, holding it out for her. Honestly having no idea what he could do for her.

_Come on Sora, hurry up._

          “Come on guys! Keep it up!” Sora encouraged. Two more stingers, just _two_. Then he’d assault the dome again and finish it off and that was all he needed to do before they could go get Mae help. He would feel bad, leaving Ariel and them without a word or finishing what they’d come to do, but they needed to get Mae somewhere ASAP, even staying long enough to finish beating this boss might be too long.

Kairi returned to where Donald was blasting away and the waterfowl glanced back over his shoulder at her. “Is Mae doing any better?” he asked.

Kairi wondered how she should answer before shaking her head. “We need to finish this soon. Where’s Meg?” She asked, looking around. Meg had sunk down to the ocean floor, and looked incredibly pale. Her wheezing couldn’t be heard over the sounds of the Flame-o’-War’s bellows, Sora and Goofy’s beating, and the discharge of Magic. “Meg!” Kairi exclaimed and lunged down to her, fumbling with the Potion she had kept.

Sora bashed at it again. _Why won't it die?! Is Scan still working?_ His mental gauge of how long this thing was supposed to live told him, stingers left or no, that this thing was supposed to be _dead_! And then Goofy did one more spinning attack into the dome and it died.

 “What happened?!”

“Ariel!” Sora exclaimed as the sea-princess rounded the corner with the Trident in hand, “Man, we could have used the Trident earlier, but we’ve _really_ gotta go! Mae got poisoned so we have to get her help!”

“Oh my gosh!” Ariel exclaimed as she and Sora swam over, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion though, “But I thought that was Meg?”

“It is!” Kairi affirmed, hefting the twin up as she coughed apologies.

“Then what’s wrong with her?”

There was a brief silence. “I…don’t…know,” Sora answered, suddenly baffled himself.

“We don’t have time to analyze!” Donald screeched, “We’ve gotta get out of here _stat_! Let’s go!” And with that the fowl began swimming towards the surface.

Sora looked at Kairi struggling to keep Meg up. “I’ll take her!” he offered, taking the twin into his arms and shot off with the others towards the Gummi.

Transformed back into all their human forms, the group was greeted with Mae’s coughing, still worse than it had been underwater, and all faces fell. Sora went into the sleeping quarters of the Gummi and lay Meg down on one of the beds across from her sister. He came back out to Donald scolding Riku for messing with the controls.

“For pete’s sake I was _trying_ to have it all ready so we could leave as soon as you got here!” he growled, “You know since we have a twin _dying_ in the backseat!”

Kairi, in her seat, glanced warily at Donald and Riku arguing. She bit timidly into her lip. “Um, can we just…go?”

The two stopped arguing for a moment, and Donald scowled at Riku, but once again Mae’s coughing won him over. “Fine, you get away with it _this_ time due to the circumstances,” Donald warned and hopped up into the pilot’s seat, “We’ll go to Radiant Gardens. Arieth will be able to help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow we sure do love our cliff hangers huh? And cutting things real close... Well, HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! 
> 
> Simply will be doing NaNoWriMo during November and Hibiscus is still trudging through school... wish us luck!


	4. Radiant Gardens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for some rest and relaxation for these crazy kids! Well, you might not call it restful...

****

          Things had come to a calm in the Gardens; the restoration was nearly finished, and the security program was doing its job perfectly. Leon, Yuffie, and Cid were just in from the restoration site, Aerith was finishing making lunch, Merlin’s nose deep in a book when suddenly the door swung open, revealing their old friend the Keyblade Master with a strange girl on his back. “Hi guys!” he greeted breathlessly, “How ya doin’? I know it’s been a while but, we need your help.”

“Fast, please?” Riku added scrambling in with a coughing girl, identical to the one on Sora’s back.

Aerith looked confused for a moment before inspecting the second girl further, her green eyes widened. She was soaking wet, pale, and seemed to be coughing relentlessly. Diluted blood seeped between her fingers and down her hand, dripping down into her sleeve. “Oh goodness yes, lay her down,” she started hurriedly, stepping out of his way. Sora gave Aerith an apologetic grin as she blinked at him and his cargo, before she put down her tray and hurried the two boys over to the bed in the corner, shoving Merlin’s books out of their path with her feet. “Here, Riku,” she ordered, gesturing to the bed, “Sora, you can sit her up on the platform behind you. What happened?!”

“A Heartless boss,” Riku said walking over and laying her down.

“Oh my-my, so the Heartless are back are they?” Merlin mused casually.

“That’s how these two got here,” Sora nodded his head at Mae, setting Meg down on the tall stone dais behind them.

“I need specifics about the _attack_ , Sora,” Aerith urged them back on-track. As Donald, Kairi, and Goofy trickled in the house.

“Poison,” Sora answered and Aerith went to work as he elaborated, “It was a massive poison attack that she got caught in the middle of, we couldn’t get her out until she was already coughing nonstop. Obviously, she hasn’t gotten much better since, and I used warp drive to get here as fast as possible.”

“We tried to get her to take a potion or something,” Kairi added, coming beside the healer, “and she tried, but she just couldn’t stop coughing long enough!”

“And after that Meg got kinda sick too,” Goofy said looking at her nervously.

“I’m okay really,” Meg wheezed, not sounding very convincing, “It’s a twin thing.”

“What does _that_ mean?” Riku demanded stepping back from the bed he’d laid Mae on.

“Oh, I’ve heard of this,” Merlin said picking up the books that had been scattered from the frantic arrival of the group. “Twins share a very special bond, sometimes so deep they suffer with each other, even when one wasn’t afflicted. Am I right?” he asked the girl. She nodded.

Aerith was unable to do much to help while Mae was still coughing; she couldn’t even get the poor girl to lie flat with her coughs keeping her curled in on herself, her hand clamped over her mouth. She turned to the opposite twin. “Is there anything about your sister that I should know about? Something that might give me a hint at what I can do for her?”

Meg shook her head. “No previous conditions, but her throat is _defiantly_ the problem,” the girl coughed a little.

“How did you two get here?” Leon asked, stepping up while Aerith stroked the elder twin’s head and the girl went suddenly limp.

“What!?” Meg gasped, eyes wide and panicked, though she wasn’t nearly as wheezy as she had been.

“What did you do?” Riku blinked, not panicked, but surprised.

“Ah, Sleep Magic, good choice there Aerith!” Merlin mused, pleased.

“That’s a―?!” Sora gaped then snapped his attention to Donald, “Why didn’t you mention that?!”

“I _knew_ about it but what’s the use if I can’t _do_ it?!” Donald defended

“ _Boys_ ,” Aerith called their attention pointedly again, “She’s asleep now, you did the best with what you had. Now why don’t you explain how they got involved.”

“They appeared on our island a couple days ago,” Sora relayed, leaning against the dais beside Meg, “We’ve been helping them find their way back home.”

“Fascinating, where are you girls from?” Merlin asked.

“Question of the week,” Riku muttered watching Aerith.

“Wherever it is, it’s sure done a good job of keeping its border. Girls didn’t even _know_ about Heartless or other worlds and the likes ‘til they came, right?” Goofy asked. The girl nodded.

“You guys let the King know yet?” Leon asked.

“First place we went,” Sora answered.

“That’s when we joined them,” Donald elaborated. The scarred brunet nodded.

Aerith positioned Mae gently onto her back and moved damp bangs out of the girl’s face. She noted Meg’s fretting and checked her sister’s pulse and breathing; it was shallow, but her pulse was steady enough. “She’s going to be alright,” she assured the younger twin soothingly. The girl sighed, pressing hand to her forehead.

“Hey, you gonna be okay?”

Meg looked up at a new arrival, a girl with short dark hair, dressed in shorts and a headband. “I think so…?”

Yuffie scowled a little at the sound of Meg’s voice. “Let me get you a glass of water,” she said and hurried away.

“So, you kids got names?” Cid asked, sitting backwards in his chair, “Or do we call you Teal and Blue?”

“I-I’m Meg. That’s my sister Mae.”

“And you’re sure you don’t know how you got to Sora’s world?” Leon asked again, “What about what world you came from?”

Meg shook her head. “All we know is that the Heartless attacked,” she took the glass Yuffie gave her with a small ‘thank you’, “and next we know we’re waking up on the island.”

Cid scoffed, “Well shit, odds are the place don’t even exist anymore.” Meg choked on her water.

“Cid!” Aerith scolded, snapping her head up from Mae to scowl at the blond man.

“He’s got a point though,” Leon added solemnly, “Happened to all of us, to Sora, Riku, and Kairi too. The Heartless infest the place and if you’re lucky you get booted off-world before it vanishes completely. Or you escape on your own.”

“Still didn’t have to _tell_ her that,” Riku grumbled looking sidelong at Meg’s face, which had lost the little color it had gained and then some.

“Don’t worry Meg! Other worlds have been attacked and didn’t disappear,” Yuffie encouraged, “And even if it did, you got Sora on your side! He’s brought back lots of worlds!”

“We’ll make sure you two get back to your world, I promise,” the Keyblade Master vowed. Kairi nodded in agreement.

Meg nodded fingers twitching rhythmically against the glass cup. “Thank you,” she muttered quietly.

“How long does Sleep Magic last?” Kairi asked, getting up onto her toes to try and see the twin over the healer’s shoulder.

“Now that she isn’t coughing, she’ll probably stay asleep even after the spell wears off,” she told the group, “The coughing did some extensive damage to her throat, the blood told us that, and at that intensity her ribs are probably good and bruised, but with some rest and silence she should be fine.”

Riku outright snorted. “Right,” he chuckled cynically, “Good luck with that one.”

“You’ll just have to make sure she does then,” Aerith stated sternly and went back to tending to Mae, “She’s gonna need some major recuperation time though, depending on how long she’s out.”

“Maybe it’d better if _I_ make sure she stays put,” Meg said nervously, “She listens to me…kind of.” Aerith nodded.

“Actually,” Donald interjected, “Meg you should get training with Merlin and get a handle on your Magic.”

“Oh, did you get her started Donald?” Merlin asked.

“Ahyuck, no sir, Meg just kinda got it out of the blue,” Goofy said, “Was handy though.”

“Oh my, that _is_ strange.” The wizard muttered, not looking up from the book he had been examining.

“Meg really is the best with Mae though,” Sora put in.

“Well she should be out for a while,” Aerith relayed, “There’ll be plenty of time for her to train with Merlin before Mae wakes up, _after_ I check her out first.”

“Alright then. Are you feeling up to it my dear?” Merlin asked the younger twin.

“I-I guess so,” she replied setting her glass down.

“Very good, we don’t have the loft in this house, but we can use the courtyard,” the old wizard said standing and moving to the door, “Join us when Aerith has finished.”

When Meg emerged from the house later, Merlin and Donald were setting up a very strange…sitting room? “How much do you know right now?” Merlin asked without looking at her.

“Point and shoot…?” Meg asked looking around the courtyard that now appeared to be fully furnished with tables, chairs, fine china, and wardrobes. So many it was beginning to look like some kind of strange outdoor furniture store.

“That’s about the size of it,” Donald elaborated, “Meg learned Blizzard in the middle of a fight, and then we were caught off-guard with a boss. And with Mae’s condition we came straight here.”

“Well, Blizzard isn’t a bad place to start,” Merlin nodded positioning the girl in the middle of the courtyard and walking across the way, “Alright then, my dear.”

“What?”

“I need to know exactly what I’m dealing with here, so let me see it.” Meg stammered for a moment then sighed and summoned her Keyblade. “Are you sure Merlin? You could get hurt,” Meg chewed her lip.

“Oh ho ho, my dear girl I am much more prepared for this than you realize,” the old wizard said, settling in one of the chairs with a cup of tea.

Meg sighed and lifted her Keyblade. “I’m sorry―I just―I can’t just _attack_ a living being,” she mumbled, lowering the blue blade again and rolling an ankle.

“Oh, you aren’t attacking _me_ my dear.”

Donald looked suddenly to the old wizard with mounting panic. “What?”

However, it became quite clear that the duck was not going to be Meg’s target as the conglomeration of furniture began to float. Meg blinked around in awe, looking back to Merlin just at the old wizard scowled disapprovingly at his tea floating up out his cup and gently pushed it back into the teacup with his hand. “I’m shooting…furniture?”

“Yes.” Merlin stated, much to Donald’s relief.

Meg pursed her lips a little, but lifted the Keyblade in two hands. The shot she fired hit the large wardrobe at Merlin’s side, sort of.

Merlin examined the frost that had sprayed onto his arm. “Interesting,” he said adjusting his glasses, then looked at Donald. “Was her magic this insubstantial during the battle?”

“No,” Donald answered, scowling at the frost he could see on the old wizard’s arm.

“Strange,” Merlin stroked his beard. “Meg my dear, were you _trying_ to make your magic weaker?” he asked her.

“Um―well―yes? No? I don’t know?” the girl stammered hugging the hilt of her Keyblade.

“Fascinating.” Merlin adjusted his spectacles again.

“What?” Donald prompted eager for the sorcerer’s response.

“Things going alright out here?” Leon asked, coming out of the house flanked by Sora and Goofy.

“Well we’ll see. What are you lads up to?” Merlin asked.

“We figured, since we have some time on our hands, we’d poke around and see if we couldn’t find the Keyhole,” Riku said, closing the door carefully behind him.

“And I came to talk to Donald,” Goofy said, raising his hand. The duck looked back to Merlin before waddling over to his bipedal-canine companion.

The two went off and Meg turned back to Sora. “So Kairi and Aerith are watching Mae?” She asked.

Sora nodded. “Kairi wanted to learn Cure magic so things don’t have to come to this again.”

“There’s a Cure Magic?” Meg asked, blinking.

“There are several types of Magic, and you will learn them _all_. In time.” Merlin stated.

Sora took the hint and stepped away. “I’ll let you guys get back to it, besides, we’ve got a Keyhole to find!” Sora announced proudly as he gained distance from them, “See you guys later!” He waved to them with the entirety of his arm. “Any ideas?” Sora asked tucking his hands behind his head, and looking at Leon as they walked.

“I haven’t been here since you started the restoration,” Riku said slowly, “How much of Maleficent’s Castle is still around?”

“We’ve got a good chunk of it cleared, enough to start planning the festival for the project’s completion.” Leon answered,

“There’s gonna be a festival when you guys finish!?” Sora exclaimed excitedly, “Aw, we’ll _have_ to come back for that!”

“Have you investigated the caves?”

“Caves?” Sora echoed, head tilted tapping his temple trying to remember.

“Maleficent had a network of caves running under the castle, some prisons, mostly storage.” Riku reminded.

Leon nodded. “We found caves under the restoration site. Didn’t do much exploring, the Heartless were so bad, but it’s possible they connect to the ones you know.”

“Sounds like a good place to start, I mean, we see everything else around pretty regularly,” Sora reasoned, slowing back down to a walk at his friend’s side, “So it makes sense that the Keyhole would be somewhere we’ve never been! Not to mention Maleficent’s minor obsession with them.”

“We may have to hunt around to find the entrance,” Riku said, “it would depend on how much has changed, but the best place to start would be the lowest levels.”

“You remember how to get there?” Leon asked.

“Sort of,” Riku shrugged, “I’ll have a better idea when we actually get to the castle.”

“Just through the Great Maw,” Leon instructed pointing to the expanse as they exited the Bailey.

Riku nodded and began the decent towards the path. It wasn’t a smooth path, just enough for their restorative comings and goings; a signpost stated it wasn’t fit for civilians yet. Halfway across the great expanse the reason for the warnings appeared.

“ _This_ is what I was waiting for,” Sora sighed, summoning _Kingdom Key_ , making the Heartless gathered hiss.

Leon already had his gunblade ready. “Don’t worry, this should be a quick fight,” and charged at their Dark adversaries.

“Right,” Riku agreed readying _Way to Dawn_.

Leon was right, only a few Armored Knights with a Lance Warrior to shake things up. They were finished off easily between the three experienced fighters and the trio continued across the Maw and met with another set on the opposite end.

When they reached the abandoned castle, Riku stopped and stood staring at the ruined gate, _Way to Dawn_ held at his side. At first glance it would have seemed like it was relaxed, but his grip was tight against the hilt, with just the slightest of trembles and his jaw was clenched.

Sora glanced over at his best friend while Leon continued through the gate; he was well aware of how Riku might feel about coming back here. “We can split up,” he offered, “Leon and I can check out the castle and you can look somewhere else. We’d cover more ground that way.”

After a moment of thinking, Riku took a long breath in. “It’s fine,” he said and started to move again, “The passage was in the entrance hall, behind the fountain.”

Sora sighed and hurried after them. “There aren’t any switches around there though, right? How do we get in?” he asked when he caught up. Leon was waiting for them at the doors.

Riku chuckled as he and Leon pushed open the doors. “What would be the point of secret underground passage if the switch was easy to find?” he asked him walking through the opening they’d coaxed out of the doors.

Once inside, even Sora had to stop and take a deep breath in, huffing it out. The memories this foyer had. “Well then Riku,” Sora kept his memories out of his voice for his friend’s sake, “Where’s the switch for these secret tunnels you told us about?”

Riku remained silent as he continued in, walking up to the left side of the empty fountain, reaching up to the head of the lion-like statue that stood there, a second later a click resonated in the mostly-empty hall and the grinding of a stone door sliding open. Riku waited a second, watching the door hidden behind the statue open and then disappeared inside.

“Wait up!” Sora called rushing in after him with Leon on his heels.

Riku stood just inside the dark tunnel lighting one of the torches that hung on the wall with Fire magic. “It’s a straight shot for a while and then it starts to split off and becomes, well pretty much a labyrinth.”

“Sounds like a cakewalk,” Leon commented sarcastically, shouldering his gunblade.

“Finding this Keyhole’s gonna take _forever_!” Sora’s shoulders sagged a bit, “And we don’t even know if it’s _here_ for sure!”

“Least we don’t have to worry about navigating the lifts,” Riku pointed out, “And since we’re going to have to light the torches as we go, we’ll know where we’ve already been.”

Sora shuddered. “I _hated_ those lift-things!” he muttered, “You never knew _where_ they were gonna take you!”

“The torches should definitely help though,” Leon elaborated on Riku’s point, “Our ‘trail of breadcrumbs’, so to speak.” He smirked to himself. Riku nodded once and started off lighting torches at even intervals as he went.

          Back in the Borough, Kairi nudged the door to Merlin’s house open with her hip, coming outside with a glass of water in each hand. “Aerith says it’s time for a break,” she announced to the practicing mages, holding a glass out to each of them after they noticed her.

The courtyard was frosted over, and strewn with little bits of frozen dishware. “Oh my, has it been that long?” Merlin asked as Meg sank to her knees with an exasperated sigh of relief, her Keyblade clattering on the flagstone.

“I never want to see another floating teapot again!” Meg practically sobbed.

Kairi giggled and walked over, crouching down beside Meg and handing her a glass. “And to think this is only Blizzard Magic,” she mused, “it’ll probably get a lot easier as you get more experienced. Don’t worry.”

Meg sighed, finally taking the water from her. “Assuming I don’t die before that.”

Kairi giggled and stood back up, reaching up and setting the second glass on the floating table beside Merlin. “Hey, where’d Donald go?” she asked, looking around puzzled, “I thought he was out here training with you.” She looked back down at Meg.

“He and Goofy went off to talk about something,” the twin replied.

The Princess of Heart blinked at her. “I thought Goofy went with Sora and the others,” she replied, blue-violet eyes still wide with surprise, “How long ago was that?”

“Well, they left just as I was beginning the training,” Merlin said, “How long has that been my dear?” Meg shrugged.

“You’ve been going about two, maybe two and a half hours,” Kairi relayed, suddenly looking very worried, “They’ve been gone for a while. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to concern yourself over, my dear. They are the King’s Men after all,” Merlin said, patting her shoulder.

“Still,” Meg said, getting up, “it can’t be about the _weather_ if it’s taken this long.”

          Sora slumped against the cavern wall. “You sure we haven’t gone this way already?” he asked and gestured with his arm back the way they’d come, “We’ve probably lit every torch, at least in this area, you _sure_ this isn’t a route we’ve gone before?”

Riku stood scowling. “I could have sworn we hadn’t but, there are torches lit…” He looked around the area investigating the cases of this that and the other thing that had been stored down there, possibly even before Maleficent. “No, I know we haven’t been here before.” He said. “We’ve been opening all the crates along the way too, right? None of these are opened.”

“Probably just more Potions…” Sora muttered.

Leon scowled, walking up to a torch ahead of them. “These shouldn’t be burned down this much,” he brought up, “We haven’t been down here long enough.”

“So…” Sora looked between the two of them, “Someone from the Restoration Committee found their way down here?”

“Let’s hope.”

“I think we should find out for sure.” Riku didn’t think Heartless capable of lighting torches, but he wasn’t willing to just pass it off as a member of the committee without certainty. This place had too dark of a history for him to leave it to chance. Without waiting for a response from the others he continued down the already lit passage way, his Keyblade in hand. Riku had passed through two openings when he stumbled across an old man in the next hall. Riku hopped back, lifting _Way to Dawn_ in preparation, eyes narrowed.

“Whoa there son!” the old man said raising both of his hands in surrender before using one to push the point of the Keyblade down away from his chest. “Watch where you point that thing!” Riku cocked his head at him. His age was difficult to determine, his hair was snow white like Merlin’s, neatly cut in reminiscence of military from long ago, and there were wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. But he held himself straight and tall, definitely the posture of a man who had served in more than one battle.

“Sorry,” Riku muttered, suddenly feeling very small in the man’s presence.

“Haven’t seen you around,” Leon spoke up, eyebrows furrowed at the man before extending his hand out to him, “Name’s Leon. And you are?”

The man moved his navy eyes from Riku to the older brunette. “Kyosan,” he introduced trading grips. “You’re a member of Restoration Committee, am I wrong?” he asked.

“You aren’t.”

“How’d you get down here?” Sora piped up.

“Same way you did I suspect,” he replied, and looked among the group of younger men, “The entrance along the path to the Great Maw?” Sora shook his head.  
  
“We came in from the Castle,” Leon answered, Kyosan nodded as though he knew. Leon turned back to Riku, “I guess the two cave systems are connected after all.”

He nodded. “How did you know they were connected?” he asked Kyosan.

Kyosan chuckled. “Simple. I’m old.”

“How long have you been away from Radiant Gardens?” the scarred brunet asked, “You seem to know the place but, like I said before, we haven’t really seen you around.”

“Oh, let’s see,” he said, sitting down on one of the crates, “The last I was here, Ansem the Wise was just a boy no older then you―” He made a gesture to Sora. “―So perhaps fifty years?”

Sora tried his hardest not to let his eyes completely bug out of their sockets _. He did say **fifteen** right? Not **fifty**? No **wonder** the guy is sitting down_. “What’re you doing down here?!” he asked the only thing that came to mind that wouldn’t be rude; “You aren’t lost, are you?”

Kyosan laughed. “Oh no, I’m quite familiar with these caves. Just an old man doing some reminiscing. And what are you young folk doing down here?” he grinned, “Treasure hunting?”

“In a sense,” Leon answered slowly, not used to being called ‘young folk’.

“Have you noticed anything…unusual, down here?” Riku asked.

Kyosan shook his head, “No, just the usual crates of relics.” Riku shrugged at his companions.

Leon shrugged back, silently telling the two boys ‘another time’. “Well, it’s dangerous down here with the restoration,” the scarred man told them, changing the subject, “We should all be getting out of here anyways.”

Riku nodded. “Would you mind showing us to the entrance you used?” he asked the old man. “It will be closer to Merlin’s and we won’t have to go back through the castle,” he pointed out to his companions.

Kyosan looked at each of them seeing that they were all in agreement and nodded. “Very well then,” he agreed getting up with a soft groan of strained effort. Sora instantly scurried over to help him up.

          Meg lowered her Keyblade. “Isn’t this a little wasteful?” she asked, walking over to the old wizard who held out an Ether to her for what felt like the millionth time that day.

“Practice makes perfect my dear,” he said not looking up from the book he was poring over. Merlin peered at her over his spectacles. “You have a very unique talent for this my dear, and that talent requires a bit more attention than usual.” 

She blinked at him. That wasn’t the first time someone had said something like that to her. Though she’d been very small when she had last been told it. She smiled a little, “I’m no stranger to extreme amounts of practice.” She admitted turning back to her floating tea pots.

“Meg!” Sora’s voice carried from above as the small Keyhole-hunting party returned through the Bailey. She looked up to find the teen waving down at her enthusiastically before hopping down the steep stairs, his companions preferring to go around to the more gradual staircase. “Merlin still working you pretty hard, huh?” the ocean-eyed boy asked as he neared the younger twin.

“Hi!” she greeted dropping her arms to her side again. “Yeah, we’ve been at it since you left. I’m warming up to it,” she shrugged, with a slight smirk. “How did your guys’ mission go?”

Sora shrugged. “Unsuccessful for the most part,” he relayed, looking over his shoulder as the rest of the group came from around the wall shielding the stairs, “We met someone new though! Says he hasn’t been back here in _fifty years_! It’s crazy!”

Meg’s eyes widened as the man approached with the more familiar two, “Wow.” He didn’t look like he was much _over_ fifty, but she had known lots of people who looked much younger than they were, Cyrus for one. “Um be careful not to slip,” Meg called to them, “It’s icy.”

Kyosan chuckled as he picked through the arctic debris. “My, you did have fun, didn’t you?” Meg muttered an apology. “Nonsense, you must be _quite_ talented.” He observed looking her over with an appraising eye.

She flushed. “Not really. Just been at it for a while. Um, I’m Meg,” she introduced.

“Kyosan, a pleasure my dear.”

“Suppose you haven’t gotten to see much how Mae’s doing then, huh?” Sora asked the girl, drawing her attention away from Kyosan.

She shook her head. “No, I’ve been out here all day,” she sighed, glancing at the door to the house.

“Well it would seem it is time to reconvene inside. There are some things we must talk about. Oh, and those two must have something important to tell us too,” Merlin said motioning to another direction where Donald and Goofy were returning.

Sora turned and his eyes brightened at the sight of his friends, waving to them as he had Meg before his wave turned into a swooping gesture to go inside Merlin’s house, the fledgling witch on his heels.

“Hey,” she greeted as she entered the house before Sora could, “How’s Mae?”

Aerith sat back in a chair at Mae’s bedside, hands on her knees. “More of the same,” she sighed before perking up a bit, “But Kairi’s got a good handle on Cure magic now. With more experience she’ll be able to get to Cura and Curaga in no time.” The flower girl smiled warmly at the redwood-haired girl in the chair beside her, who shrunk a little bashfully.

“That’s great!” Meg quietly cheered.

“How much longer do you think she’ll be asleep?” Riku asked, coming into the room.

Aerith’s face fell again and she looked back to Mae on the bed. “No telling really,” she sighed, “The damage to her throat was extensive as I feared, and she _does_ have some nasty bruising to her ribs. Kairi and I have done all we can, the rest Mae’s got to do on her own.”

“Hope it’s nothing permanent,” Sora put in, tone somber.

“She just needs to be careful of the strain she puts on her throat,” Kairi piped up and Meg nodded, going over and sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing at her sister’s bangs, fingers drumming against her leg.

“So, what were you two up to?” Riku asked turning to Goofy and Donald.

“Yeah, you were talking for a while!” Kairi added, “We were starting to worry something was wrong!” Sora looked over to his friends concernedly.

“Gwarsh, sorry we worried you!” Goofy said apologetically, “It was kinda a big thing to discuss.”

“Nothing bad I hope,” Yuffie said swinging her legs energetically as she sat on the edge of Cid’s stool. The man had relinquished it to lean against a wall as far from Mae as he could, but Aerith still scolded him for smoking inside, _again_.

“Well, not really bad…” Goofy answered slowly, trying to find the best way to put it.

“Me and Goofy are heading back to Disney Castle.” Donald blurted out.

Sora blinked at his old partners incredulously for a moment. “Well, what’d that need a big announcement for?” the Keybearer asked cautiously, “Mae still isn’t going anywhere; we’ll be here when you get back.”

Aerith stood and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think that’s what they mean, Sora,” she clarified when he looked up at her over his shoulder. After a moment of his continuing to stare at her it clicked.  
  
“What?! No! Why?!” he whipped his head back to look at the knight and magician.

Goofy interlaced his fingers. “Well, we just thought, with Riku and Kairi with ya again and the twins, you got all the help ya need, and with the Heartless back the Castle sure could use our help,” he explained.

“But, but, but the Castle’s got the Cornerstone! And I couldn’t imagine saving the worlds without you guys!” Sora tried to reason with them. Kairi took Aerith’s place at his side, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

“The point is Sora, that we think you’re _ready_ ,” Donald explained, eyes softening at the boy, “You can do this without us now. And the King really needs us back at the Castle…”

“If these Heartless are strong enough to take down a world we don’t even _know_ about,” Riku looked sidelong at the twins, “then keeping the worlds we _do_ know about as safe as we can would be a smart move.” Sora looked back at his best friend like he had betrayed him.

“From the little I understand, something is definitely fishy in the state of Denmark.” Meg sighed, waving off the funny looks she was getting and fell silent.

“Don’t worry Sora,” Donald caught the teen’s attention again, “You haven’t seen the last of us yet.”

“Ahyuck, yep and you _have_ got Riku and Kairi and the twins with you!” Goofy said.

“Yeah,” Sora began and scuffed the toe of his shoe on the floor, “But you guys have been with me since the beginning, doing it without you just feels wrong.”

“You’ve gone off on your own in the past,” Donald pointed out.

“Yeah, but that was different,” the Keyblade Master muttered, hands shoved down into his pockets.

“Well, I must admit I had hoped you would be around to observe Meg’s progress, Donald, but I do agree that keeping the castle safe is a wise idea,” Merlin said, “Especially since we are unclear what happened to Maleficent.” Sora looked away, the slightest scowl creasing his forehead. Merlin had a point, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

"Well Sora's got enough experience to walk her through it," Goofy offered.

“Of course, for any ordinary beginner Sora’s experience would be well suited,” Merlin stated matter-of-factly.

“And if they have any troubles they have you, Merlin!” Donald pointed out, “You’re way more experienced in Magic than I am.” The duck looked to Sora again. “This works out best for everyone, and it’s not like we’re leaving _right_ away,” he added and Sora quickly picked his head up, “Cid’s agreed to build us a Gummi to get home; we’ll hang around until he finishes and you guys are ready to go.”

“Which could be a while, depending on how fast Mae heals,” Riku pointed out.

“Well, Mae’s always made fast recoveries,” Meg said. “Though, that could depend on your definition of ‘recovery’.” She admitted sheepishly.

Aerith sighed, smoothing the folds out of her roseate dress. “Well she’ll have to get used to some slow-healing,” she began, “She’ll be fit for travel in no time I’m sure, but her throat’s going to be very sensitive for a long time. She’ll have to be careful if she wants it to heal.”

“Huh?!” everyone turned to the weak croak that came from the bed.

“Mae, you’re awake!” Kairi cheered as the elder twin attempted to sit up onto her elbows.

Aerith quickly circled around to her side and pressed her back down to the bed. “Nice to meet you Mae, now you need to lie down and rest,” she commanded. The twin complied slowly, but was obviously very confused. Brown eyes darted around the room, from person to person. Kairi was easy to find, Meg was next, Riku after that, then Sora, Donald and Goofy. But so many unfamiliar faces, none of them looked like they were in any sort of uniform, a quick glance around room confirmed that, so she wasn’t in a hospital. Aerith handed her a potion bottle. “This’ll help,” she said much gentler than her previous order, “it won’t fix it and you still shouldn’t talk, but it’ll make it feel a bit better.” She straightened back up to her full height again.

“Mae,” Meg called from her side, “This is Miss Aerith, she’s sorta like Sora and the others’ doctor. She said that you’ll be okay, your ribs are just bruised, but your throat’s all torn up, so you got to keep quiet, so it can heal okay?” She fidgeted with the sheets, biting her lower lip, “Promise me? Promise me you’ll do what Miss Aerith says without a fuss?”

Mae opened her mouth and took a breath to answer shortly before squeezing her eyes shut, gritting her teeth as her throat protested to the sharp intake of air. Once it passed, she nodded her head vigorously, eyes still shut and wishing she could answer more articulately. _If it’s gonna hurt like that if I don’t, I will_ , she thought as her tense muscles relaxed again. Aerith reached around Meg to take the Potion back out of Mae’s hands, working the cork open before holding it out for the twin to take when she was ready.

Meg sighed. “Okay,” she nodded and turned to the others, “So, now that Mae’s awake, I guess we can decide what we’re gonna do next.”

“Well, I vote y’all rest up. I’ll start on yer ship in the morning,” Cid said, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth.

“And I will continue training Meg,” Merlin said.

Meg nodded. “Okay, you gonna keep learning from Miss Aerith, Kairi?”

Uncertain, the Princess looked to her teacher, who shook her head. “I think it’s a good idea that we _all_ rest,” she insisted, “Merlin, we’ve been working Meg and Kairi all afternoon, and Sora and Riku, you’ve been out looking for the Keyhole. Not to mention you all came straight from battle.”

“Aerith’s right,” Leon concurred, “Rest is exactly what all of you guys need.”

“We have been going pretty nonstop since we left the island,” Riku observed.

“By the way, um, what happened to your guys’ friend?” Meg asked, “Did he leave?”

Sora got up on his toes and looked around for the old man. “That’s weird,” he stated, coming back down to flat feet, “He was just with us before we came in.”

“Maybe he didn’t want to intrude?” Meg offered. “We were all pretty distracted when we came in,” she pointed out.

Riku nodded, “She has a point, he probably just went home.”

“If he lives around here we’ll probably see him around,” Leon assured, shouldering himself off the china cabinet in the corner.

“Didn’t you say…he’d been away for a long time?” Meg asked. “Does that mean he came from another world? Maybe he went back there?” she offered.

“Doubtful,” Leon answered bluntly, “The old man’s just come back after fifty years. His age aside, I don’t think he’d just up and leave so quickly after he’s arrived after so long.”

“Guess not,” she agreed.

“Who’s this guy supposed to be anyway?” Cid asked.

“We found him while we were searching for the Keyhole,” Sora answered.

“And what’s so special about that?” Aerith tilted her head in inquiry.

“We found him in some old caves beneath Maleficent’s castle,” Riku said, “I was under the impression she had made them herself, but he said they’d been there for a while.”

“Well that _is_ interesting,” Aerith mused.

“Well, the Gardens is a very old place, who knows what secrets are hiding around here,” Merlin pointed out with a grin.

“The man is over fifty years old, I don’t think he’s someone we have to worry about,” Riku said, “Especially since we have _more important_ things to worry about.”

Leon nodded in affirmation. “Right. Like finding that Keyhole,” the scarred man suggested.

“But _first_ : rest,” Aerith reminded pressingly.

Donald nodded. “Right!”

“Guess it was a good thing we added on all those rooms huh?” Cid grinned.

“Huh?”

“Geez kids, have blinders on didja?” he snorted. “We did some remodeling,” he gestured around.

“Lots of expanding since my house seems to have taken on the role of hotel and hospital,” Merlin said with a sigh. “Kitchen and dining room,” he said pointing to the doorway along the wall behind Cid. “And bedrooms and bath,” he gestured to the door beside the little table where Pooh’s storybook sat.

The traveling group all turned as a unit to Merlin’s gestures. Sora was the first to turn back to the old wizard. “Thanks guys, but you know we don’t really need it,” the Keybearer reminded, “We always just slept in the sleeping quarters of the Gummi ship before.”

“Nonsense, everyone needs somewhere to lay their head,” Aerith insisted.

“A ‘home base’, so to speak,” Leon added.

“Besides all you guys squeezing into one Gummi won’t be very comfy anyway,” Yuffie pointed out.

“And clearly ya need it,” Cid said, nodding to the silent twin on the bed. Mae glared the best she could at him lying down, grip tightening on the now-empty potion bottle.

“And…” Meg said slowly, “an even bigger ship wouldn’t have great maneuverability, and there are enemies in space…right?”

“You’re not going to be here all the time,” Leon pointed out, “You’ll probably still spend a lot of your nights in the Gummi, but it’s good to have some roots somewhere.”

“And roots mean food and rest!” Yuffie stated happily, “Speaking of food, we should have dinner and get to sleep, yeah?”

Aerith giggled a bit behind her hand. “Alright, fine. I’ll go get it started,” the flower girl started and moved towards the door on the opposite side of the room, fleetingly placing a hand on Kairi’s shoulder as she passed, “Kairi you mind a little more work and helping me out?”

The redwood haired princess, almost caught off-guard, glanced worriedly between her childhood friend and the healer; Sora _seemed_ to be doing better than he had before. “I-I’m coming!” she called and hurried to follow.

“I’ll help too,” Meg said following.

          Sleeping in an unfamiliar place was never something that Meg could do easily. Whenever the family went on vacation she’d end up crawling into bed with Mae. That night though, she forced herself to stay put. Mae was recovering; she shouldn’t bother her, even if it meant she wasn’t going to get any sleep.

For that reason, she was surprised to find herself being woken up by a knock at the door and Yuffie cheerily calling it was time to get up for breakfast. When Meg came out, Mae’s head was stuffed under her pillow. With the main room being the nerve center of the house, all the bustle to prepare breakfast must have woken her and kept her from going back to sleep.

“Might as well get up Mae!” Sora called as he emerged from the dining room, wiping toast crumbs from his mouth with the back of his glove, “Aerith said you can have eggs!”

Meg chuckled a little. “Mae isn’t much of a morning person if she can help it,” she said, raking her fingers through her hair, straightening out the mess it had become from her restless night before beginning to pull it back into a ponytail. “It’s a chore to get her out for a run in the morning.”

Mae emerged from beneath the pillow and opened her mouth to object. “Ah-ah-ah,” Aerith tutted in a playful, but nonetheless warning tone as she came out of the dining wing carrying a tray of food. “Here’s what you’re allowed to have Mae,” she began, setting the tray down on a stack of books beside the bed, “There’s some scrambled eggs and oatmeal here, and water. Coffee and the citrus in orange juice are too acidic for your throat.”

Mae went to make a face in anticipation of all the mushy textures about to invade her mouth, but caught her sister out of the corner of her eye. Remembering her promise to her sister, she nodded to her caretaker and with assistance carefully moved to sit up, accepting the tray.

The younger smiled. “Um, there wouldn’t happen to be any tea would there?” Meg asked, wavering between the ‘living’ room and the dining area, mostly for her sister.

“Merlin drinks tons of it,” Yuffie answered, “Hot or cold tea?”

“Hot, you want some Mae? Or, well, can she have some Miss Aerith?” Meg asked, despite the _clear_ request Mae was making for coffee.

“Just ‘Aerith’ is fine, Meg,” the flower girl corrected and turned her head to look down at Mae, “Some nice soothing tea might be good for you, want some?”

Mae gave her sister a look that rivaled the pitifulness and sense of betrayal of a kicked puppy. Aerith had already forbidden any coffee, and Meg wasn’t going to get her any either. She looked at her sister and vigorously tugged on the dark moon pendant on her choker.

Aerith’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion over the twin’s strange gesture. “She’s saying she wants black tea,” Meg chuckled, waving her sister off.

Aerith chuckled softly as well. “Alight then. Come on Meg, I’ll show you where they are,” and with that led her into the dining wing.

Meg followed her into the room, half of it being taken up by a long dining table, a number of the seats occupied by the majority of their band. “Morning,” she greeted, following Aerith into the kitchen half. “I know Mae would rather coffee but, I didn’t think you’d allow it.”  

“You’d be correct,” Aerith giggled, reaching to one of the many tins lined up against the wall on the counter.

“Wow,” Meg looked along the line of canisters that spanned the entire length of counter, “He’s got quite the collection!”

“Like Yuffie said,” Aerith giggled again, unlatching the lid and passed the tin to Meg, “he drinks it all the time. He’s as well-versed in tea as he is in magic.”

Meg chuckled accepting it. “Margo has a collection like this too! Except, she never labeled them,” she said, looking at the white label pasted to the tin.

“It was _Aerith’s_ idea.” The two brunettes in the kitchen turned to Leon coming in, dressed but looking barely awake, not much better off than Mae. “Not like with his chicken scratch it’s any _less_ unintelligible,” he mumbled.

“Morning Leon,” Aerith greeted smoothly, turning to the coffeepot and pouring a mug, and handing it to him as he passed like clockwork.

“Not much of a morning person either, Leon?” Meg asked keeping her gaze down on the label, “Oh, this one sounds good!”

“You can _read_ it?!” Yuffie marveled, leaning her full weight on the island behind Meg, successfully lifting her feet temporarily off the floor.

Meg blinked around at the surprised faces. “I got good at reading ‘doctor’ handwriting.” She muttered. “Merlin can identify them by smell too, can’t he?”

Aerith thought for a moment. “We never really asked,” she answered, “He must’ve though. Why do you ask?”

“Margo, my Master’s wife could. She was always trying to get me to learn. I did okay when I was little, but when I got my sight back I lost it.” Meg chuckled measuring out the tea skillfully into the two diffusers.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Kairi’s piped up from the table, setting down her orange juice, “But did you just say you were _blind_ Meg?”

The girl looked over her shoulder. “Oh, only for a few years when I was small…er,” she giggled, “I got really sick, and it screwed up my sight, my parents couldn’t afford to fix it until I was about eight?”

“What did you do then?” Kairi asked, she wasn’t aware someone could _come back_ from being blind, “I mean it sounds like you were young if it didn’t get _fixed_ until you were eight.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Meg asked cocking her head to one side a little.

Aerith giggled. “What I think they’re asking is ‘how did you deal with it?’” she clarified, “That’s a lot of time to spend blind, especially at such a young age.”

Meg stared at the steam drifting up from the slowly darkening liquid in the mugs before her. Remembering when she had got her sight back, the first thing that had come to her mind was _‘Maybe daddy will come back now, that would be good for Mae.’_ She crinkled her nose a little. “I was really excited to have my sight back. Sure, it took some adjusting, and there are things I still do more by feel and ear then sight, but I can’t say it was too difficult.” She explained. “Think the worst of it was not having a reason to have Willow around all the time.”

“Who’s ‘Willow’?” Sora asked, coming back into the dining room.

“Meg’s telling us how when she was little she couldn’t see,” Kairi answered readily before turning back to the younger twin, “But who was Willow, Meg? A doctor?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Meg giggled. “He was my seeing eye dog. Now he’s more of a family pet.”

“A dog!” Kairi cheered, clapping her hands together, “It must’ve been nice to see him once you got your sight back!”

Meg nodded. “It really was, though he was really confused for _months_ though,” she giggled pulling tea diffusers from the mugs and putting them in the sink. “Lots of following me around and whimpering―Excuse me.” she said taking the two mugs in hand and going to her sister passing her one, “Here Mae, careful it’s really hot.”

“Thanks,” her sister’s voice was terribly horse, barely a whisper, but sincere. Her expression then morphed into one of concern, it hadn’t been hard to hear the conversation, with the open doorway between the main room and the dining area. Meg shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed, blowing at the steam, the liquid rippling a little.

Riku had watched Meg leave and was quiet for a while. “I’m struck with how little we really know about those two.”

“I would have never guessed Meg had been blind,” Kairi piped in, picking up her glass of orange juice again and holding it delicately over her empty, crumb-littered plate.

“She functions normally,” Cid observed through a yawn.

“Well it was several years ago. She’s had plenty of time to adapt to sight again,” Merlin pointed out. “Though I am curious about this ‘master’ she mentioned.”

“I noticed that too!” Sora agreed and turned in his seat to his friends, “You don’t think the twins are slaves or something on their world, do you?”  
  
“He’s probably just a mentor in something,” Leon clarified before the younger brunet got to worrying too much, “It’s fairly common for teachers to be referred to by their pupils as ‘Master’.”

Riku sat back folding his arms over his chest, scowling at his half-finished breakfast. It still bothered him that they were basically strangers to them. Though, he guessed it couldn’t be helped, it wasn’t like they had had much _time_ for chitchat until this point. Still, he’d have to make a point of learning more when he could.

“I sure hope so,” Sora slumped back in his seat.

“Don’t be silly Sora,” Kairi chided from her seat beside him with a small giggle, “The twins wouldn’t be in such a hurry to get home if they had been _slaves_. I think Leon’s right. Besides, did it really look like Meg and Mae had come from enslavement when they appeared on our island?”

“You know there is a very simple way to clear this up,” Merlin said standing. “Meg my dear would you come in here for a moment?” he called out the door.

“Alright.” Meg responded confused and returned to the room behind Merlin.

“We were pondering your mention of a Master,” Merlin began.

“And Sora got it in his head that you and Mae were slaves,” Riku said gesturing vaguely to the brunet.

“WHAT?!” the elder sister’s rasping whisper managed to elevate in volume to a half-decent shout.

“Mae! What did I say about talking?!” Aerith scolded, but not before Mae’s eruption of coughs could be heard from the front room, but the healer was already moving to get to her before the fit did any more damage.

Once Aerith had gone, Kairi turned back to Meg. “We tried to tell him it was a silly idea…” she trailed off, blushing bashfully at the fact that it even had to come to this.

Both hands were clamped over the younger sisters mouth her eyes wide. There were soft snorting sounds of the attempt to keep herself from bursting into laughter. “No,” she answered straining from the contained giggles. “Master as in my teacher, Cyrus was my _teacher_!” she corrected.

“That’s what I thought,” Leon muttered into his coffee mug before drinking.

“What did he teach you my dear?” Merlin asked.

“Piano.”

“Geez Meg, you’re full of all sorts of surprises!” Sora remarked with interest, “Formerly blind _and_ a piano player?”

Meg shrugged, embarrassed. “I’m afraid the surprises stop there.”

“Wait,” Riku scowled, “You said your Master’s wife had been teaching you to identify tea by smell, _before_ , you got your sight back.”

“Yes?” Meg cocked her head at him confused.

“How long have you been learning piano?” he asked suspiciously.

“Since I was four,” she responded calmly.

“While you were blind,” Riku lifted a brow skeptically.

She laughed. “I did say there were things I still did by ear rather than sight.”

“That’s crazy Meg!” Sora exclaimed before he corrected himself, “Crazy in a good way though. Like that’s _totally_ awesome!”

“To start at such a young age, you must be quite talented,” Merlin observed as Meg decided she might as well sit and eat. “How did that come about?”

“My mom told me that we had gone out shopping, I got lost and wandered into a concert hall where my Master was setting up for a performance that night,” she said smiling with just a touch of sadness. “When he heard me crying he picked me up and took me back to the bench with him and after telling some security guards to go see if they could find my parents he went back to working on this song he was writing. I’m _told_ that he’d been stuck on it for months, never being able to find that right note, but when he played and was thinking on what to try next, I reached out and hit a key. The magical note. When the guards came back with my parents he insisted that they let him start teaching me immediately,” she shrugged, “And for the next twelve years we were Master and apprentice.”

Sora sat back in his chair again, ocean eyes narrowed at the younger twin. “Liar,” he stated simply before sitting forward again, leaning on his arms toward her, “You said you didn’t have any more surprises!”

“How is that lying!?” Meg squeaked. “That’s just how I started learning; you already knew I was four and that I did,” she defended.

“Next time we come across a piano you’ll have to play for us!” Kairi exclaimed clapping her hands together.

“There’s sure to be a piano _somewhere_ in the Gardens, what do you think Leon?” Merlin asked.

“Well I imagine there would be,” the scarred brunet answered, “especially with the planning for the festival and all.”

“Festival?” Meg asked.

“To celebrate the restoration!” Sora cheered.

The brunette girl bit her lip. “Um, Restoration?”

“Everyone here you’ve met is working to renovate the old Castle,” Sora elaborated for her and began rifling through his pockets, “They’ve been at it since I came last time, geez, almost two years ago now? Here! See? I’m even an honorary member of the committee!” The Keyblade Hero slapped a plastic purple card, similar to a credit or library card, face down on the tabletop, exposing his name in the white signature section written in handwriting that was certainly not Merlin’s.

Meg leaned forward squinting. “That’s really cool Sora!” she said finally picking up a plate. “Well, if there _is_ a piano around I’d love to use it. Cyrus would turn over in his grave if he discovered I wasn’t practicing.”

“I’m sorry Meg,” Kairi’s eyes widened suddenly with concern, she placed a hand to her chest, “I didn’t know your Master was gone.”

The girl stared at her plate. She hadn’t entirely thought of it when she said it, not until _Kairi_ said it. She shifted slightly. “It’s okay. It’s been almost two years, I don’t…really notice it much anymore.” she said quietly.

The tension in the room was broken by Aerith’s return into the dining room, “If she hadn’t been busy coughing I imagine Mae would have quite a bit more to say about this.”

 “Mae didn’t hurt herself, did she?” Meg asked.

"No," Aerith sighed, setting the tray with Mae's dishes she'd come in with beside the sink, "Just wore herself out a bit." The younger brunette nodded and turned to dishing herself breakfast.

 

* * *

 

         “No, no I’m getting up,” still hoarse but a lot less raspy, Mae carefully stood up from bed.

“Mae, no! You’ve been resting for barely a week!” Aerith insisted, hurrying over.

“I’ve had bruised ribs enough to know that that’s plenty long enough,” the elder twin responded, standing straight on her own for the first time in four days, breathing carefully the way she and Aerith had trained, “No more mush, no more bedrest. I’m becoming a _normal_ person again.”

“Should I send Meg in?” Yuffie asked as she crossed from the back rooms towards the front door.

“I’m serious!” Mae’s voice faded out and back in where her voice should have cracked, “Even Meg knows! I’ve done worse things to my ribs than _cough_!”

“Mae! Don’t raise your voice!” Aerith scolded, eyebrows knitted together. The cherry-brunette only rolled her eyes.

“I’ll get Meg in here,” Yuffie said giggled as she bounced out the door. “Meg, your sister’s giving Aerith grief again!”

A minute later Meg poked her head in the front door. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Sis, tell her I’m fine!” the elder insisted exasperatedly and barked out a cough or two. “My ribs,” she clarified after her minor fit passed.

Meg came in all the way, her hair back in a ponytail, bangs stuck to her face with sweat, and her jacket missing. “Well,” she began slowly. “It’s true Mae’s taken some beatings in the past,” she agreed carefully keeping her tone neutral, “But, Aerith _is_ the doctor here Mae, maybe you ought to listen to her.”

Mae waved her arms, gesturing to herself frantically, “Look at me! I’m _fine_!”

“And you _should_ be quiet!” Aerith scolded again as she watched Mae’s face scrunch up to hold back another cough.

“I’ve been near-silent for _days_ , I can’t stand it anymore _on top_ of being bedridden!” the cherry-brunette snapped, scowling at the healer, “I’ll be quieter when you let me at least be _mobile_ again!”

“Mae, you promised,” Meg half pleaded, half accused.

“I’ve _been_ good!” Mae’s voice faded out again with a hint of a squeak, giving her sister her own pleading look, “I’m not asking to get out in the fray again, just some _mobility_! I know my body I’m _fine_ now!”

Meg sighed; Mae had made up her mind. There was nothing else she could do. "I really think you ought to listen to Aerith." She said going back to the door.

Said healer let out an exasperated sigh, pressing one hand to her forehead, the other on her hip. "How about a happy medium?" she proposed, taking her hand away from her face, "At least let me give you another examination. I'll give you my _honest_ opinion about if you can be up-and-about again, and you comply, whatever the answer may be. If you're right, you can get back out there, but if not, then you need to _stay in bed_ until I say so!"

Mae scowled for a moment at her in contemplation. "Fine," she rasped.

"Good. Now if you'll sit back down on the bed."

          Aerith ended up begrudgingly giving Mae back her mobility, but under the condition they stayed just a couple more days in case her condition worsened. The elder twin spent that time getting her legs underneath her again and regaining her voice, partially thanks to Potion-painkiller concoction Aerith had created so she would avoid babying her ribs.

“Don’t think I haven’t seen you holding back fits,” the healer scolded before softening, “I know it seems opposite, but that’s what these Potions are for.” She motioned to a small chest of specialized Potion bottles beside her. “If you keep favoring your ribs, you’re risking a chest infection, and that will put you out of the fight for even longer,” she warned and picked up an icy blue belt scalloped with leather loops around the bottom edge, Mae took it and latched it around her waist wordlessly as Aerith continued, “I had the Moogles whip this up, it’s so you can keep your potions handy. The Potion bottles should fit right into these loops, but I suggest you carry some water too, for your throat. These Potions will soothe it just like any other, but there are only these until you come back so you still have to be careful and not strain yourself!”

The elder twin nodded, stooping down and carefully picking up the chest of Potion-painkiller blend. “Thanks, Aerith,” she replied, sounding more like her normal self than before and headed outside to join the others.

“Like the rebellious younger sister you never had,” Leon remarked with a slight chuckle, coming up beside the flower girl, “Or daughter; goodness knows you’ve been scolding and doting over her like her mother.” Aerith’s eyes moved downcast, expression falling in the slightest form of disappointment. The Leon’s eyes softened at her in return, “You miss him, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

Meg, lingering between the main room and the back rooms, chewed her lip, then cleared her throat softly. “Um, did Mae already go outside?” she asked when the two brunets looked back at her.

“Yeah, after a frenzy of instructions,” Leon answered with a touch of a smirk in his tone.

“Okay, thanks,” she said slinking past them to the door before sprinting to catch up to Mae. “Hey Mae, the Gummi is parked just past the Bailey, this kind of grated platform,” she said grabbing her elbow lightly and chuckled a little. “I think Riku and Kairi were inside organizing stuff or something.” She bit her lip, “Sora’s been with Donald and Goofy at their ship.”

“It’s understandable,” Mae replied with a shrug of her shoulders, “They’ve been with him since the beginning of this whole Keyblade-Keyhole-Heartless madness, right?”

She fidgeted. “Yeah,” the little sister said softly, “Watch your step, still a little rough through here.”

Mae shifted to walk sideways so she could see the path around the chest. “You see the belt Aerith had that Moogle-thing make me?” she changed the subject, taking advantage of her already half-turned position, “It’s so I can carry a proper _arsenal_ of her Miracle Potions with me, water too!”

“Oh cool! Merlin got these for me!” she said, patting the black and red pouches strapped to her thighs, “They stay up with Magic!”

“Heard that’s going well for you!” Mae remarked, successfully getting her sister off-topic.

“Yeah, I’ve still only got the one spell. But I’m almost to the next level,” she confirmed, “The pouches are for Ethers, they rapidly replenish your MP―The power inside that allows me to, you know, sling ice.”

“Mae!” The twins looked down to see the redwood-haired princess waving to them, sporting a new white armband bearing a red cross, as she came up the metal stairs framing the demolished stone of the Bailey. The girls met her at the flat mid-section between flights of stairs. “It’s good to see you out here!” she greeted, but scowled at the chest in Mae’s arms, “What’re you doing carrying that? That can’t be good for your ribs!” She stepped up to the elder twin, taking the chest from her and staggering under its weight.

Mae chuckled. “Kairi, the point of Aerith clearing me to leave was that I can act like a normal person again,” she shook her head, watching as Kairi struggled with the awkward size and weight of the chest.

Meg giggled a little. “It looks like you got a new accessory too Kairi!” she changed the subject, coming up beside Kairi and silently offering to take one side of the box.

The Princess looked down at her arm and adjusted the chest in her arms again to let Meg assist her. “Since Aerith’s been teaching me Cure Magic, she gave me this,” she explained, “It makes it so my Cure spells can’t be interrupted.”

“Clothes apparently have that power,” the elder twin nodded, following carefully, looking down the second flight of stairs, “Alright. Where we going?”

“The path to the Restoration Site is that way,” Kairi gestured with her now free hand to the path carved in the stone adorned with metal grating and brass pipes across from the massive gap in the city wall leading to the Great Maw.

The older sister followed along until they reached the platform Riku was coming their way. “Hey, want me to take that?” he asked nodding towards the chest.

“We got it. Where are you going?” Meg asked.

“I’m gonna go get Sora. We’re almost ready to go,” he said.

Kairi bit her lip. “Is he gonna be okay?” she asked.

“Oh yeah, you know him: like a spring,” he smiled a little as he walked past them.

Meg giggled. “Okay, do you know if the others are gonna come say goodbye?”

“Nope. That’s why I need to get Sora,” he chuckled.

          “They already take off?” Riku asked standing on the last step up to the platform just off the town’s marketplace. It was empty accept for a lone, dejected-looking Sora.

The Keyblade Hero looked down suddenly at his toes, as if his best friend hadn’t already caught him looking up at the sky long after his friends had left. “Yeah,” he replied quickly, scuffing a toe on the cobblestone with his hands shoved into his pockets, save for one that would dart out and wipe under his nose as he guised a sniff with a scoff. Walking on the thin wire that was the verge of tears.

The older boy sighed a little and came up to him ruffling his brown hair. “Well, look on the bright side,” Riku looked at him side long. “At least you know where they are,” he grinned slightly.

Sora really did scoff this time, a chuckle through a half-grin. “Yeah,” he agreed and swatted the older teen’s hand away playfully, “That better not mean you’re planning to go vigilante on me again!”

Riku shrugged. “Not at the moment at least. But who knows, you might get yourself in trouble again and I’ll have no choice,” he answered holding up his hands.

“Says you!” the ocean-eyed boy countered, laughing. When he’d composed himself he shifted his weight onto one foot, hands clasped behind his head, “How’s packing up the Giga going?”

“Pretty much packed. So if you’re done moping…”

“Was not!” Sora protested and moved past him, jumping down the small flight of stairs rather than walk. He straightened and looked back to his old friend with a toothy grin. “That’s your thing. Wouldn’t want to step on any toes~” he teased, “Come on! Let’s go!”

“Oh _now_ you’re in a hurry!” Riku called down at him, following his lead to jump the steps instead of walking them.

          “There they are! Guys, come on!” Kairi called as her childhood friends came into view around the bend, waving them over.

Riku was too focused on the race he and Sora had inevitably gotten into. More accurately: focused on keeping his very small lead. He ran right into the ship hands slapping against the bright colored panels. “Ha! I win!”

Sora was close behind, leaning his back against the wall beside the doorframe and panting. “This time!” he pointed out breathlessly before letting his head fall back with a _thump_ against the gummi ship wall.

“Leave it to you two,” Kairi giggled from a few paces away, having had to back up when the two boys had come charging in.

“They _do_ this a lot, huh?” The Princess turned at Mae’s inquiry, finding the elder twin sitting sideways on an end seat.

Kairi shrugged. “For as long as I can remember.”

Meg leaned out the entry way blinking at the two huffing and puffing. She shook her head giggling a little. “So, do we need to tell the adults we’re ready for takeoff?”

Riku shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said, now that he was breathing a little more normally. “Think they’re pretty aware we’re leaving,” he looked over at Sora, “Right?” The brunet could only nod.

“Well, Cid’s tinkering under the hood I think, someone ought to let him know before he gets inadvertently grinded into the gears,” Mae pointed out with a slight chuckle.

“Sorry kid no Cid burgers today,” the man said coming from the front of the Gummi. “Now you remember what I taught you, right Squirt?” he patted the hull, “Don’t want this beauty coming back in pieces.”

Sora pushed himself off the _Giga_ ’s wall, straightening. “Hasn’t been _that_ long!” he defended with half a smile.

Cid scowled at him. “Yeah, well, you’ve crashed gummies before. Just want to make sure this baby’s in good hands.”

Sora sputtered. “Those were―” he stammered more as he struggled for words, “― _for the most part_ , not my fault!”

“Yeah, yeah. Well just be careful with her,” Cid waved him off and stalked away.

Meg smiled at the brunet. “Well _I_ have faith in your driving skills Sora,” she said.

“Thanks Meg,” Sora chucked out his gratitude and moved into the cockpit. Mae swiveled in her seat before scooting over to the window, resisting bringing up the fact that they’d already crashed once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S&H Notes: No cliffhangers this time! And not nearly so under-the-wire! Thanks for bearing with us through this month of intense schooling, NaNoWriMo word counting, and altogether holiday craziness! Apologies for the lack of character art so far, we're still trying to work out the logistics, we'll try to have that out soon (maybe a Christmas present~?). MANY many thanks to our betareader, we enjoyed reading all her little comments and appreciated the hell out of her weighing in on mine (Hibiscus) and Simply's silly creative differences. It's a better story for it!


	5. Agrabah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a Party in Agrabah... and it will inevitably have crashers.

****

          “It’s desert,” Meg observed hands against the glass of the window as the Gummi rumbled in its decent. “Is it a good idea to be taking Mae to a desert?” she asked looking around at her fellow passengers.  
   
“Probably not.” Riku said leaning his head against one hand.

“Maybe I should’ve brought a mask or something,” Mae wondered, scowling at the contents of the chest she was kneeling next to before looking back over her shoulder to her sister, “Think if I just bring excess water I’ll be ok?”

“But Mae what if you get hurt?” Kairi’s head popped up over the headrest of her seat as the ship rumbled and they touched ground.

“If things get bad I’ll just borrow a potion from someone else,” Mae reasoned, digging around and pulling seven bottles of water and four of her specialized Potions out of the chest. She stood carefully cradling the bottles. “It’s not like _normal_ Potions are off-limits,” she shrugged one shoulder and began to load her belt with the bottles, “Aerith just gave me these to help heal my ribs faster.”

“And you’ve been practicing Cure Magic with Aerith, haven’t you?” Sora added, coming out of the cockpit. Kairi bit into her lip.

“I’ll be fine, Glinda,” Mae reassured, fitting the last bottle into the last loop on her belt, “it isn’t your job after all to look after my health.”

“Let me guess, it isn’t anyone’s right?” Riku asked as he stood shoving his hands in his pockets and heading for the door.

“Whoaaaa!” Meg breathed shielding her eyes from light as the door opened. She leaned out looking across the rooftops of the town to a palace, the kind she’d only seen in movies about the Middle East. Looking down, she saw the streets were packed with a sea of festive people. “That’s, a _lot_ of people,” she gulped.

“Well let’s stop hanging around in the doorway and see what’s goin’ on!” Sora urged excitedly, pushing out between the teens huddled around the exit and down onto the roof, “I can’t wait to see what Al and the others are up to!”

“Is that safe?” Meg asked still clinging to the doorway of the Gummi like a life line as the others filed past. “It’s like, Black Friday out there.” Mae visibly tensed.

Riku chuckled standing on the ramp just outside the door looking back at them. “Assuming that’s a big event on your world.”

“Huge sale. Just before Christmas.” Mae said shortly, staring intently at the crowds, “People have been _killed_ in the stampedes.”

The tin haired boy couldn’t help but smirk a little, assuming she was exaggerating. “Just don’t get separated and you guys will be fine.” The twins nodded stiffly and followed.

"Why are there so many people?" Kairi marveled as she walked down the ramp to Sora, shielding her eyes with her arm.

Sora shrugged. "I dunno, maybe something's happening at the palace."

“Hell of a lot of booths down there,” Mae commented, leaning out slightly over the side of the building. She straightened and looked back to the group, “I’m going with Meg’s Black Friday theory.”

“Well, none of us are gonna find out here. To the palace!”

“Ah! Sora, wait up!” Kairi called, following him to the ladder at the edge of the roof he was headed towards.

“So how do we get there, from here?” Riku asked once they were all gathered on the ground, pressed against the side of the building due to the crowds. Mae instantly grabbed Meg’s hand.

“Let’s start with escaping the crowd?” Meg suggested.

“You have friends here right Sora?” Kairi asked, trying to recall the stories he told her.

“Yeah!” Sora answered, searching the dense crowd, going up on his toes every so often, “Wonder where Al and everybody _are_ …” He trailed off, taking the first step out into the crowd and was almost instantly swallowed.

"Sora!" Kairi called, lunging forward to rush to catch up. She reached him, nearly crashing into his shoulder blade and felt him catch her hand. She looked up and Sora smiled down at her.

“I’m not going to lose you,” he reassured her with a warm chuckle before breaking into a grin and continuing forward with the redwood-haired princess in tow, “Come on!”

“Come on; don’t want to get left behind.” Riku said to the twins before following behind his friends, the twins on his heels.

The going was slow, and no one but Sora had a clue where they were going. Meg wondered if the perky boy had a plan or was just aimlessly searching. She’d fallen a few steps behind the others due to the crowds, losing grip on Mae’s hand, but they were still in sight when one of the merchants appeared suddenly in her path leaning right into her face and talking very fast, not loud enough that she could understand what he was saying, but just loud enough that his voice was an odd kind of white noise buzzing in her ears.

The girl stammered, retracted a step, and held up her hand, shaking her head, and tried to step around him to catch up with her sister. The Merchant sidestepped into her path again. They continued their little side-to-side dance for a second or two, the panic tightening the poor twin’s chest. Finally she leaned one way, and when he stepped to that side, she bolted to the other. It was too late though. She looked around frantically. There was no sign of them anywhere. 

          Mae stopped, feeling a distinct absence of her twin’s hand. “Meg?” She called pivoting around.

“What happened?” Riku asked, grabbing her arm to make sure she didn’t get separated. Mae flinched away from him.

Ahead Kairi noticed that they had stopped moving and drew Sora up short. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Meg?!” Mae’s volume rose along with her heartrate as she looked around wildly for her sister, but only finding the faces of strangers. “MEG?!”

“Meg got separated.” Riku surmised reaching over and grabbing Kairi’s free hand with his.

“Meg, can you hear me?!” Mae continued shouting forgetting every breathing exercise she ever learned. This crowd was massive, and this wasn’t like getting separated at the county fair. There was no Willow to guide her safely back to her, no Cyrus or Margo to pick her up and keep her safe ‘til she got there; they were in a strange, brand-new place with hordes of people whose temperament they didn’t know. The back of her throat tickled uncomfortably and her chest ached as she took a gulp of air, “Meg, where are you?!”

Riku tightened his hold on her arm pulling her closer, pausing briefly when she recoiled pushing him away on reflex. “It’s no use shouting. Even if she were close she wouldn’t be able to hear you over all this.” He stated close to her ears so she _could_ hear him. “Let’s at least get out of the way so _we_ don’t get separated and can come up with some plan.” He reasoned, coaxing Mae off to the side. Sora followed, still holding Kairi’s hand as the Princess fretted about Mae hurting her throat and Meg being lost.

          Meg _was_ lost. Horribly, utterly, irreversibly lost. She tried for several minutes to catch up to her friends by going the way she thought they had, but after squirming through the crowd and being bumped and swept away by even more people, she wasn’t even sure if she _was_ going the right way. Plan B was to try to get out of the main flow and over to the side, see if she could get onto a roof and see if she could spot them. She tried, and might have almost succeeded if a group of veiled women hadn’t charged passed her, knocking her backwards. She stumbled back, reaching out for any kind of support, convinced she was going to hit the ground and be unable to get back to her feet and get trampled to death.

Someone caught her under the arms with a soft expletive. “What the hell are _you_ doing here?!”

Meg’s eyes widened, blinking up at him. “A-Axel!?”

“You’ve managed to get separated from everyone again I see,” the redhead remarked with raised eyebrows as the younger twin got her feet back under her.

“I was trying really hard not to!” She defended, having to shout to be heard over the overwhelming volume of the crowd, and to make up for the fact he was a foot, probably more, taller than her. “A merchant blocked my path and I lost them!”

Axel scowled as he tried to hear her over the general din, which proved more distracting as they received more and more glowers and grumbling and complaining from shoppers for having stopped in the middle of the busy street. He shook his head. “Come on,” he muttered, snatching her by the wrist and dragging her into the nearest available alley. She tripped over her feet a little at first when he started to drag her along, putting her free hand over his and turning the one he held over so she was hanging on with both hands out of fear of losing _him_ in the crowd.

Meg blinked around the alley. It was completely empty except for some barrels scattered around, and the overpowering ruckus of the crowd had been reduced to a muffled white noise in the background. “Finding an area without a stand in it is the key,” Axel relayed at a normal volume as he surveyed the alley himself. “Though maybe they kept clear for a reason…” he deliberated, scowling at the barrels.

“Why would people leave so many random barrels in an alley?” She asked, dazed as she put a hand on the top of one, tipping her head.

“Don’t touch―!” The redhead’s warning was interrupted when the barrel, along with several others nearby, sprouted four spindly legs. “Damn,” he cursed under his breath after retracting a couple paces, Chakram in hand, “I was afraid of that.”

Meg skipped a step backwards. “Wha―Why? Why do they have legs!?”

“Because they’re _Heartless_!” Axel shifted in front of her and threw a Chakram at the Barrel Spider, “Pots are the same here, be careful!” He glanced back at the petrified brunette. “I trust you’ve gotten more practice in with that Keyblade of yours?” he threw over his shoulder as he caught his returning Chakram. Meg nodded, lifting a hand to summon the blue and silver blade, taking a breath and leveling it at the Barrel Spider and blasted it. “I see you have,” Axel commented, both satisfied and vaguely impressed before summoning a second daggered-wheel.

“They only taught me point and shoot!” She warned.

“So stay behind me and point and shoot!” the redhead snapped. The girl nodded and took aim before firing off again and shrinking down behind him.

“I really need to see the wizard about getting some fighting skills,” she whimpered, popping out from behind him like a cuckoo clock to fire and duck behind again.

          “So what’s the genius plan?” Mae snapped, sipping on one of the water bottles Kairi _insisted_ she drink as she paced.

“We continue to the palace,” Riku said, “Find Sora’s friends and enlist their help. They’ll know the city better, and what’s going on.”

“While Meg’s out there, _alone_ , with who _knows_ who?” Mae exclaimed in disbelief, “And Heartless! Yeah, Meg’s competent in her _one_ spell but is that gonna be enough if she’s taking on a group of them?!”

“I’ve been here a lot! There might not even be anymore Heartless here,” Sora consoled, “It’s just the crowd she’s got to deal with, and the people here aren’t so bad!”

Mae scowled. “Yeah, that’s _tons_ better.”

“The more efficient we are in the search the faster we’ll be able to―” Riku began to counter in a tone of strained calm.

“SOOORAAA!” a loud, enthusiastic voice hollered from seemingly nowhere, a breath before a big blue man appeared tackling the Keyblade Wielder. “Oh Sora! You little rascal! I should have known you’d turn up now!” Genie grinned holding him out at arm’s length before hugging him again. “Al and Jasmine will be so thrilled!”

Sora laughed. “It’s good to see you too Genie!” he replied, staggering a little when he was released, “What made you think I’d turn up _now_ though?” He looked around at the crowd, and in the process recalled the small group of his friends standing around them clueless and disoriented. "Oh, right," Sora scratched the back of his head sheepishly and regained his composure. "Everyone, this is an old pal of mine, Genie," he introduced, "Genie, this is...everyone." He chuckled. "Those two are my friends I was looking for before, Riku and Kairi," he gestured to the two, grinning and turned to Mae, “And this is Mae. Which reminds me Genie, could you do us a favor?”

“Of course Sora! What do you need? A boat? A plane? A plate of Baklava?” the blue man rattled off, each item _poof_ ing into sight as he said it, vanishing to make room for the next.

“Mae’s sister Meg, she got lost in the crowd,” Sora relayed, unfazed by the display.

“She’s Mae’s twin, so she looks almost exactly like her,” Kairi added.

“Man Sora, you really need to take better care of your friends, you keep misplacing them!” Genie teased, whipping out a pair of spectacles from nowhere he leaned in close to Mae. “Hmm yes, I see,” he muttered floating around her in a circle. “Alright!” he cheered suddenly _poof_ ing to a new location, “Never worry, I’ll find her in a jiff!” And he dashed away calling back over his shoulder as he went, “You kids head to the palace!”

They all stared after him for a moment before Mae spoke up, pointing vaguely in the blue man’s direction, “So, he’s a…”

“―Genie, yeah,” Sora verified, “Ultimate cosmic power, itty bitty living space. Though not for Genie since Al freed him.”

“Free genie then, huh,” Mae mused, wondering briefly on what other surprises she’d be in for. She shook her head as she came back down to earth or whatever planet this was.

          Meg stood for a minute, panting. Even with cowering behind Axel, she had had to do a lot of running and dodging, even had to hit the spidery barrels with her Keyblade a few times. The fight had consumed three ethers, but the Heartless were gone now. She sighed and sank to her knees still holding the Keyblade. “I’m _really_ not cut out for this,” she panted.

“You’re still new at it,” Axel reassured her, leaning against the wall not too far away, “It’ll get easier with experience.” He shook his head with a breathless chuckle. “You should’ve seen my frien―” he stopped himself before he plunged too far into memories. He cleared his throat. “You’ll get better at it.”

She puffed her bangs out of her eyes. “This was always more Mae’s thing,” she commented, using both hands to pile her hair up against the back of her head off her neck as she looked around. She guessed she should go back to looking for Mae and the others. She looked back at the redhead, _No, he seems to be the kind who, while not minding to save a weakling, is more of a loner._ She sighed, letting her hair back down and got to her feet and turned to him. “Thanks for the help… _both_ times.” she said, with a nervous chuckle as she went towards the dead end of the alley and began shoving a lone crate over to some others that were stacked so she could climb up to the rooftops.

Axel shrugged off the wall, following and watching her struggle with the boxes that probably weighed twice as much as she did soaking wet. After watching her nearly fall a few times due to the lack of traction in the sand, he decided to speak up, “And what exactly are you planning?”

“If I go up on the roofs I can avoid the crowds―oof!” she almost fell on her face that time, but it was the last shove needed to get the crate into place. She got up, absently dusting sand from her palms, before clambering up on top of the crate. “And get a better vantage point to find the others again.”

“Uh-huh…” he nodded, tone disbelieving, “And…how do you plan on getting down once you do? Or what you’re gonna do when more Heartless show up? Roofs aren’t some kind of safe-zone you know.”

“There are all sorts of ladders scattered around, I’ll use one of those.” She said heave-hoeing herself up onto the second crate, “As for the Heartless?” She sat down on the crate looking back down at him. “I guess…I’ll do what I can?” she said slowly, then shrugged “Nothing really else I can do.”

Axel shook his head, hands shoved into his pockets. “Yeah, no I’m coming with you,” he insisted, getting up onto the bottom box much easier than the young twin had, considering he was at least a head and a half taller than her. “As accident prone as you seem to be, there’s no way I’m just gonna let you waltz off and be easy-pickings for those monsters,” he stated, looking at her.

She blinked at him. “You don’t have to―I mean, I appreciate the concern, but―I mean―” she stopped stammering and inhaled slowly, looked up at him again and smiled, “Thank you.”

“Better start looking then; you’ve been gone a while.”

She continued to blink at him for a moment. _I don’t get him. Really. He’s extraordinarily difficult to understand._ She nodded and got up to scramble onto the roof. She blinked at the sight. “Ho boy,” she breathed surveying the minefield of barrels.

“Are we really going to dance around all those or can we just take care of them?” the ex-Nobody asked.

Meg sighed heavily. “Do they always appear in so many numbers?” she asked rocking a step back.

“They’re _barrels_. They don’t have a definite pattern,” Axel replied, readying his Chakrams, “Alleys like before are popular, though, blending in and all that.”

Meg summoned her Keyblade. “If we must.” Axel smirked to himself and promptly threw both Chakrams, both striking and heavily damaging several of the furthest barrels from them. By the time the rest had gained their spindly feet and began charging over, Axel’s Chakrams had returned to him and he threw them out again cloaked in fire. Meg concentrated on the ones closer blasting them away. “If I knock them off the roof will that do anything to them?” she asked.

“Well I’m not gonna lie, it’s entertaining as hell watching them run into the wall from above, but there’s a sea of people down there. And these suckers self-destruct when they’re impatient.”

“Well now, aren’t they just a barrel of fun,” she muttered leveling her weapon so the shots pushed them towards the side of the building rather than the edge when something blasted past her knocking her into Axel, she yelped a little.

"Geez!" Axel dismissed his weapons in a hurry and caught Meg by her shoulders, taking a step back. No need for her to confirm his heartbeat a _second_ time.

“Aw look at that, the Heartless aren’t playing very fair are they?” echoed a voice from nowhere, “Let me give you a hand! Alakazam!” There was _poof_ sound and all the Heartless disappeared with a puff of smoke and glitter.

"What the heck was _that_?" Axel asked rhetorically, looking around.

“Meg!” cried the voice, catching both the girl and the redhead into a crushing hug. “Oh ho! I’ve been looking for you all over town!” He paused looking down at them. “Didn’t mention the redhead, but oh well. Sora sent me to find you. So off we go!”

“Wait, wait!” Meg choked, squirming a little to get free, but realized she was trapped between Axel and the magical blue man.

“I’m just―! Shit," Axel didn't bother to even finish his sentence before the blue smoke cleared to reveal a flourishing courtyard.  
  
"Genie!" Sora proclaimed excitedly when he caught sight of the party's entrance, his ocean eyes only got bigger at the sight of the redhead, “Axel!”

“Oh is that who the spiky haired guy is?” Genie asked ruffling the redhead’s spiky hair.

“Yes! Now can you lay off?!” the ex-Nobody attempted to shove himself away from the blue man.

“I can’t…breathe!” squeaked a voice from somewhere under the red and blue.

“Meg!” Mae exclaimed, rushing over.

“Alright alright!” the blue man laughed and set them down, Meg collapsed to her knees panting.

“Meg are you ok?” the elder twin crouched in front of her younger, “What happened?”

“I got separated by some Merchant, and when I was trying to find you guys, I ran into Axel,” she said leaning back onto her hands, “And he was nice enough to help me out, again.”

“―How did _you_ get here?” Riku demanded arms folded over chest, shoulders tense and glaring, “And why would you _help_?” Axel glared back.

“Woah, Riku, relax!” Sora interjected with a nervous chuckle, coming up beside them, “We got his whole spiel before! No need to _jump_ the guy, he’s fine.”

“Whoa, there’s a lot of tension going on here! Some unresolved issues I think!” Genie said holding up his hands.

Meg gave the silver haired teen a look that was almost exasperated. “Come on Riku, I’m pretty obviously pathetic so he lent a hand. Like any decent human being would.”

 “Sora?” questioned a young man in white clothes as he entered the courtyard along with a young woman. “When did you get here?” he asked, beaming happily as the monkey on his shoulder chattered excitedly.

“Al, your timing is excellent!” Genie cheered.

“Jasmine!” Kairi greeted her fellow Princess of Heart excitedly, grateful for a familiar face.

“It’s good to see you again,” the Arabian princess smiled warmly, “If we had known you were here we would’ve been out sooner!”

“Oh, we haven’t been here very long, Princess,” Sora assured her, “We just had some complications along the way. What’s with the crowd, anyways?”

Genie beamed. “It’s the wedding of the century! Our very own love birds! Al and Jasmine are finally tying the knot,” he sniffled holding a tissue to the corner of his eye daintily, “I’m so proud!”

“'Bout time.” Sora clasped his hands behind his head with a smirk, "These are the friends I was looking for before, Riku―and Jasmine knows Kairi! And then there’s Axel, he got here before us and we just met up with him again. Those two identical ones are our new friends, the twins Meg and Mae. We're helping them find their home world." He motioned to each one in turn, facing Jasmine and Aladdin again when he'd finished. "So when's the wedding?" Sora asked, clearly excited for the two.

“Today,” Jasmine replied, practically glowing, “That’s why the crowds are worse than normal. We were just about to get ready when we heard you guys out here.”

“That’s so exciting!” Kairi cheered, bouncing on her toes.

“Any way we can help out?” Meg asked looking around at the collection of people. Axel rolled his eyes. It wouldn’t surprise him if Meg would be the type to buy something she didn't need so long as it said so much as 'proceeds will save kittens'.

“Well…” Aladdin began.

“Don’t be silly!” Genie proclaimed, “I’ve got everything under control! Just sit back and enjoy! Really how often do you guys get down time?”

“We just _got_ some.” Riku muttered.

“Well,” Jasmine began, “We’ve got to be getting ready. Kairi, Meg, Mae, why don’t you girls come with me?”

“I’d be happy to help!” Kairi nodded, happy to spend her time with a familiar face.

“Sure,” Mae shrugged.

“I’ll do whatever I can.” Meg agreed.

“Great! Stupendous! With four girls getting ready I have _plenty_ of time to put together the final touches!” Genie grinned.

“I thought you said you ‘had everything under control’, hm?” Sora inquired mockingly, hands on his hips.

“Now, now Sora there is always room for perfection!” Genie stated matter-of-factly.

“What are the rest of us going to be doing?” Riku asked the prince-to-be. Or would have if Aladdin were actually there.

“Where’s Aladdin?” Kairi blinked, looking around.

“Did he say anything about having to get ready?” Meg asked, fingers tapping against her leg.

“Don’t worry about Al, Jas! We’ll have him all ready! Off you go, you girls are gonna be _gorgeous_!” Genie said pushing the four off towards the palace.

“We can walk! We can walk!” Mae laughed, stumbling a little to find a pace that matched his hurried speed. Jasmine laughed as well, similarly trying to match pace. Even Kairi giggled a little, given that Genie had used his semi-cosmic power to poof up a third arm to push her along as well. Sora smiled to himself when Kairi turned back to wave to her childhood friends, it was good to see her come out of her shell a little bit and be comfortable enough to go off on her own.

“So we’re looking for this Aladdin character, right?” Axel shoved his hands in his pockets, breaking the ocean-eyed Keyblade Master out of his thoughts.

“‘ _We’_?” Riku challenged, arching a brow.

“Well Al’s got this hideout not too far from here,” Sora suggested before wincing slightly, “But that _does_ mean going back out into those crowds…”

          Meg walked slowly, hands folded over her chest, staring at the sand, chewing her lip, fingers tapping a rapid beat against her arm. Mae put a hand on her arm, “You alright Meg?” she asked, voice low and laden with concern.

Meg jumped, knocking over a barrel. “Stay-a-barrel-stay-a-barrel-stay-a-barrel!” she panicked. It sat there: a perfectly ordinary barrel. “Oh thank goodness!”

“Geez Meg,” though Mae was concerned for her twin, she couldn’t help the small chuckle, “What happened?”

“Goodness, are you sure you’re alright?” Kairi asked. Jasmine, a few paces behind her, looked equally concerned.

“Yeah, just happy it’s _just_ a barrel.” Meg sighed eyeing the object suspiciously.

“Meg’s had a run in with a few Barrel Spiders.” Genie explained with a chuckle.

“Not ‘ _a few_ Barrel Spiders’, more like _fifty_ of them.” The twin sighed.

“ _Geez_!” Mae exclaimed shifting back a little, stunned.

“Thank goodness you weren’t hurt!” Jasmine added, “Those things tend to explode after too long!”

Meg chuckled nervously. “Well, they still did, just, away from me, and you know, because Axel was forcing them too,” she interlaced her fingers in front of her, biting her lip sheepishly, “Honestly the only reason they didn’t eat me―or whatever Heartless do―is ‘cause he was there.”

“He’s got some firepower then,” Mae commented.

Meg nodded. “Literally.”

“Anyway,” Kairi came in, “We have a bride to get ready, don’t we?” She smiled back over her shoulder to the Arabian princess.

“Right, I’m sorry,” Meg smiled apologetically at Jasmine.

          Aladdin sighed, walking into the little collapsing room that had served as his home until he’d met Jasmine. He knelt down to the floor moving a stone revealing a small hole from which he pulled a wood box.

“Hello~” A giant eye appeared in the lack of wall that he had long treated as a window. “Someone’s gonna be late for his own _wedding_!” Genie shouted, causing the soon-to-be prince to lean forward.

"Al!" Sora's voice could be heard coming up the stairs, followed by the footsteps of others, "Al―Woah!"

“Yeah, you’re gonna want to watch out for that fallen beam there, Sora,” came Axel’s bland reply, “Didn’t you say you had been here before?”

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” the silver haired teen grumbled rolling his eyes.

“It’s called ‘sarcasm’ smartass,” Axel bit back.

Sora rolled his eyes at them both and jogged over to where Aladdin was kneeling. “Come on, Aladdin. Game time,” he encouraged, when he noticed the box his friend had pulled out, “What’s that?”

“This…” Aladdin blew the dust from the lid. “This is for the wedding,” he said lifting the lid causing light to shine down the length of the beautiful blue and gold scabbard of a slightly curved knife.  
  
“Wow…that’s, that’s a nice dagger, interesting nuptial accessory! It’s sharp…and―” Genie commented.  
  
“―It belonged to my father,” Aladdin said cutting off the magical man’s rant.  
  
“Your father?” Genie asked. “You never said a word about your father! Oh I got to let the caterer know!” Genie ‘panicked’ before appearing as a waiter on Aladdin’s other side, "Chicken or sea bass?"  
  
“He’s not coming to the wedding,” Aladdin soothed, “He died a long time ago…”  
  
Genie cringed. “Sorry.”

Aladdin smiled lightly getting to his feet. “It’s okay. I never knew him…Maybe if I did, I’d feel more ready for this,” he sighed tucking the dagger in his cummerbund.  
  
“Al…” Genie appeared suddenly on Aladdin’s feet over his boots as a pair of fuzzy pink bunny slippers, “Are you getting cold feet?”

“Come on Aladdin,” Sora chimed in, standing up himself, “We’re _all_ behind you _all_ the way in this!” All the others in the room nodded in acknowledgment, even Axel spared a nod with a smirk.

Aladdin scoffed, “No, I'm not getting cold feet.” He had been looking forward to this for a long, _long_ time. He loved Jasmine, that wasn’t gonna change. “It's just that, I-I've always been a street rat! Stealing what I need to survive running from the guards!” Abu nodded happily, as said street rat slid down the wall to the floor with a sigh. “Living my life alone,” he said petting the monkey who had migrated to his knee, “I'm taking a big step today, into a new _world_!"

Suddenly a phone _poof_ ed into existence in front of him. “Today’s topic: fears of a future family man, Al from Agrabah, share with us,” Genie’s voice said through the magically summoned device, having vanished from the groom’s feet.

"I've never had a father to show me how to _raise_ a family!"

“No role model. Get a little deeper,” Genie said. Riku rolled his eyes, was this getting them anywhere? And where _did_ Genie get these ideas from?

“What do _I_ know about families?” Aladdin asked, rhetorically. “Guys, what if I’m no good at it?” he asked, which seemed to get the blue man to be serious, “If my father _were_ here…”

“Al, little buddy,” Genie put a hand on the youth’s shoulder, “If your father _were_ here he’d be as proud of you as I am.”

“All of us are! Don’t sweat it Al,” Sora encouraged, “You’ve totally earned it, and you and Jasmine have been through so much to be together!”

Aladdin smiled a little. “I just wish he could see this…” he turned to the window, “The whole place is in this celebratory uproar, and it’s all for me and Jasmine. Just look at where we are, and how our dreams have come to be!” He turned back to them. “I’ve never ever had a real family,” he looked back at the place, it was obvious who he was thinking about by the look on his face, “Someone who could just understand me…”

“Ah! Come on Aladdin!” a red parrot appeared right in front of his face; squawk-talking loud enough to wake the dead, _"This mush has gotta end!"_

Riku arched a brow. “And I thought Mae was loud.”

Sora went on as if he hadn’t said anything, putting his hands on Aladdin’s shoulders. “There’s a _party_ going on in Agrabah!” Sora reminded him as he turned him to the window to see the bustling streets of citizens below, “And it’s starting right away!”

“Come on it’s your wedding day!” Genie held out his arm for the young man, who linked arms, Abu and Iago followed marching straight out the window, the others gathered at the end and watched them fly off towards the palace. They stood there in silence for a moment or two.

“So…” Axel was the first to break the silence, “Where’s our ride?” More silence as the group thought on that before all running for the stairs to try to get to the palace before the ceremony started. All through the streets they heard people talk about how they were going to the wedding, how it was going to be ‘the wedding of the century!’ and how amazed they were that Aladdin could have come so far.

          Kairi was standing on a short stool carefully arranging soft lavender-colored flowers in the princess’ long ebony hair, before calling Meg over to help her with the veil. Mae leaned back against the princess’ vanity, watching as Meg hurried over to Kairi and the bride-to-be with the carefully folded veil. The two worked together to place it on Jasmine’s head, and rearranged the flowers in her hair around the veil. Kairi was beaming nearly as much as Jasmine, and Meg seemed to be basking in the glow along with them. Mae chose to hang back, telling herself that three sets of hands was a set too many and this dressing up business was never really her forte, honing in on those thoughts and keeping away from others.

“Hello~” called a familiar cheery voice from the door, “Are you ladies decent?”

Meg opened the door for Genie, stepping to the side gesturing at the princess. “Tada!” she smiled.

Genie clapped. “Oh lovely, you girls did awesome!”

“Come on.” Meg laughed. “It’s about to start, and I hear Sora and the others,” she said beaming over her shoulder at Jasmine. “See you when you come down the aisle Your Majesty!”

Sora stood with the rest of the guys―save Aladdin who stood at the altar―towards the back of crowd. “Hey guys! I think the girls are coming!”

“The wedding is going to start any moment!” Meg said softly as she and the other two girls came to stand with them.

“Bad news Al! The boutonnieres clash with the cummerbunds!” the Genie exclaimed holding a flower under the dark haired man’s nose.

“Uh, Genie, isn’t a little _late_ for that?” Aladdin asked between his teeth.

“What? What are you trying to say? What out with it! What? What?!” The assembly of people waiting suddenly caught the blue man’s eye. “Eheh…” he chuckled nervously.

“They’re here…”

Genie suddenly began to spazz. “Oh-no!” There was a _poof_ and suddenly there was a white rabbit in a red waist coat and gold pocket watch bounding away proclaiming. “I’m late! I’m late for a very important date.”

Sora watched the genie rush by with a dropped jaw. The twins also looked bewildered by the appearance of the white rabbit. “Uh…” was all any of them were able to get out verbally before the double doors swung shut again behind the Genie-rabbit and suddenly the great blue man, no longer a rabbit, looking formal and composed like never before. The Genie lifted a trumpet and blew into it three times, twisted it around his hand and disappeared allowing the five bridesmaids to proceed down the aisle scattering soft lavender-colored petals as they went. Following the scattering of petals came four guards, a palanquin on their shoulders carrying a plump man with a white beard. By the deep bowing and murmurs of ‘Your Majesty’, they guessed he was the Sultan, Jasmine’s father, and the visiting teens followed suit. The only ones who didn’t seem to follow this custom were Carpet and Abu. The rug clapping, and Abu screeched wildly, waving his arms for the man’s attention. The ruler giggled and waved back. Meg giggled a little into her hand. She supposed it shouldn’t surprise her how warm the Sultan was, what with how Jasmine welcomed them.

When the palanquin arrived at the front and the Sultan hopped from it, proving he was barely half Aladdin’s height, and he joined Aladdin, and a magically reappeared Genie, at the altar. Aladdin also bowed to him, earning a friendly jab in the ribs. “Don’t look so solemn boy!” the old man chided cheerfully, “This is a _happy_ day!”

“Oh look, it’s a Kodiak moment!” Genie said framing the Father and soon-to-be Son-in-Law with his hands. The words somehow caused the large brown bear to appear roaring loudly at the blue man. Genie grabbed it by the muzzle shoving it back out of existence. “Put that bear outta here!” he ordered and looked back to the aisle a smile on his face. A zap of magic and four doves appeared carrying a white carpet that they laid over the first carpet before fluttering away. Everyone looked to the doors framed by twin peacocks whose tail feathers pulled away to reveal the bride.

“Wow…” came the breathed exclamation of the groom.

Genie accompanied this by punching the air with a triumphant, “Oh yeah!”

Jasmine beamed at her husband-to-be before composing herself and started down the aisle, nodding in recognition to her guests on either side. She spotted Sora and the others and giggled quietly as Sora gave her a thumbs-up. She faced toward the front again as she came to the bottom of the stairs that led to the elegant altar Genie had so exuberantly prepared and she and her father turned to face one another.

The Sultan sighed taking his daughter’s hand. “I never thought this day would come,” he said quietly putting his other hand a top hers, “now I’m afraid it has come all too soon.”

The princess smiled at her father warmly. “Oh Father,” she sighed bending at the waist to hug her father.

The couple took the other’s hands walking up to the alter hand in hand. “It’s all―”

Meg jumped, _When did Genie get there_!?

“―So magical…I’m not going to cry…I’m not…WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Meg sidestepped out of the way as the Genie reached out grabbing the unfortunate carpet and proceeded to blow his nose into the tapestry. “Oh!” Genie gasped releasing the captive Carpet, who looked down at himself in what Meg could only guess was disgust. “Sorry,” Genie grinned sheepishly at his tasseled friend. Meg shook her head with a slight smile as she turned her attention back the couple as they reached the altar.

“Well, we’re here,” Aladdin murmured quietly to his bride.

The princess took both his hands in hers. “Together forever,” she told him confidently.

A moment after, the earth lurched, a rumbling growing stronger beneath them. Riku caught Mae by the arm before she toppled over, Meg stumbled back a few paces, before falling all the way to the ground. Kairi would have been down there with her if Sora hadn’t caught her, and even Axel staggered a bit. “I thought the earth wasn’t supposed to move until the honeymoon…” Genie gasped looking down at his feet

“Oh, oh my word!” the Sultan exclaimed falling over as well.

“Wha-what’s going on!?” Mae asked, panic fraying on the edges of her voice.

“Trouble,” Axel answered bluntly green eyes darting around for what he could guess was coming.

“STAMPEADE!” Genie shouted before an elephant smashed its way into the building.

Meg scrambled to her feet and out of the path of the first of several massive beasts. She’d been really small when she last saw an elephant in person, but she had read enough since to know that this kind of random rage wasn’t normal. It trumpeted, and smashing away another column and she saw its eyes. “It’s a _Heartless_!?” she cried, holding her arms over her head at the shower of debris.

Bride and Groom stood horrified at the altar for a moment as the elephant-Heartless came at them. Aladdin, coming to his senses at the last moment and jumped out of the way, taking his bride with him. Sora swung out his arm, _Kingdom Key_ appearing without effort. “We’ve got to get everyone out!” he ordered, _Give me strength!_ Suddenly, there was a Keyblade in each hand, _Oathkeeper_ and _Oblivion_. A charge of courage ran through him and his Keyblades, crackling with red electricity. As Mae got her feet back underneath her, she watched Sora charge off, _Oathkeeper_ over his shoulder, the other arm crossed over in front of him holding _Oblivion_ back around behind him, wearing distinctly more red than he had been a moment ago. She shifted her weight away from Riku, and summoned her own Keyblade as she heard Sora’s voice again above the sudden chaos. “Focus on taking care of the Heartless and getting the guests out!”

Axel spun a flaming Chakram to life, throwing it at one of the giant, charging Heartless. “Don’t have to tell _us_ twice!” he retorted back, throwing his second Chakram and catching the first that had come back to him.

Genie scooped Abu up out of the way of a Dark-infused elephant’s foot. “Come here Monkey boy! You were almost Dumbo toe-jam!” However, Carpet was not so lucky; the blue man appeared suddenly at the scene. “AHG THEY TRAMPLED THE CARPET!” he shouted, horrified. Riku lifted a brow as the realization came to the Genie as well. “That’s a little redundant…so this isn’t a bad day for you really, is it?”

“Right. Someone really messed up picking me for Keyblade duty!” Meg yelped jumping backwards out of the way of a particularly large chunk of stone. “Really, they picked the wrong girl for this one!”

Riku shifted into his own battle stance, staying with Mae. “Try not to push too hard! We don’t need you having a coughing fit and passing out!”

“Would you relax?!” Mae sighed exasperated at the Tin Man, eyes darting around the room that was rapidly becoming void of wedding guests. She caught her sister dodging for her life not very far off. _Think fast think fast think fast_ , she panicked before getting struck by an idea. She turned sharply to Riku, “Gimme a boost!”

“What!?” The silver haired teen demanded.

“Just―” words failed her in her urgency and she flailed with her hands in an upward motion, “Launch me!”

Riku lifted a brow at her. “You’re joking.”

“No, _now_!” she demanded, “Before my sister gets _trampled_!”

“If you say so!” Riku sighed, though not at all convinced, and tossed _Way to Dawn_ away towards the elephantine Heartless, before giving Mae the boost she wanted in time to catch the Keyblade in its return.

The noise and hullabaloo finally attracted the palace guards and they were followed by a legion of roguish looking men. Riku scowled at them. “Oh this just keeps getting better!” he grumbled adjusting his stance to account for the new enemies.

The palace guards were having a distinctly difficult time with the incoming thieves. “Tch,” Axel scoffed, catching one of his Chakrams only to immediately throw it back at the huge Heartless, “The security here is a joke.”

“I think we’re gonna have a problem with leaks,” Genie stated pointing up as another pillar came crashing down around him, and once again he zipped up to the ceiling and attempted to hold it in place.

As Mae began her swift decent toward the colossal Heartless she gripped the hilt of her Keyblade in both hands and pulled it back tucking her knees up into her torso, and gouging her Keyblade into the elephant-Heartless’ eye. Keeping a firm hold on her Keyblade, Mae straightened out again as her momentum propelled her to swing around, twisting the blade in the creatures’ eye. It reared back, enraged and in pain and Mae pulled her Keyblade free and dropped down next to her sister, flinching on impact. She turned to her, “Not bad for spur of the moment, huh?”

“Your ribs!” Meg squeaked in concern. “And you made it mad!” She added frantically darting away from her sister as they were charged by the Heartless Mae had attacked.

“Yeah, but I also impaired it,” Mae replied, grinning as she ran alongside before altering course abruptly. She doubled back and dropped down at the last second. Momentum, along with the smooth floors allowed her to slide under the belly of the monster. She skidded to a stop on the other side and got to one knee, twisting around slamming her Keyblade into the tree trunk that was one of its back legs, causing it to stagger. “All yours Sis!” she called, “Freeze it!”

Meg sputtered for a second, there was no way her ice was strong enough to make it even stagger. She glanced over her shoulder, spotting some of the thieves that had arrived, coming up behind her. “Well there’s a thought,” she muttered and froze the ground beneath the Heartless’ feet. The beast’s eyes widened as it suddenly began to slip and slide across the ice towards her, she ducked down and it slid right over her and into the band of men.

“Oh yeah! Striiiike!” Genie called from above her, accompanied by Mae’s cheers in the distance before Meg saw her charge off again.

With three men tailing him, Sora darted toward a column, running partway up it before flipping back over the men’s heads. They spun to face him, expressions confident, but their faces fell when the Keyblade Hero gave them a smirk of his own before unleashing a flurry of attacks with _Oathkeeper_ and _Oblivion_ , pressing them back toward the outside.

“They fight like demons!” cried a guard.

“Worse than demons! These are the forty thieves!” said another.

“Really? I got thirty nine.” Genie added from above.

Aladdin looked around, a scowl growing on his face. “Forty.” He muttered slipping out of his formal over robe as he went towards the last thief, rummaging through the gifts.

Meg continued dashing around the room making things difficult in the mobility department for the thieves and the Heartless with patches of ice. She also once again employed the strategy of throwing the empty bottles of the few Ethers she needed.

A thief turned due to a tap on his shoulder, only to find two very displeased princesses behind him. And before he could react accordingly, both punched him, sending him to the floor unconscious. “ _That_ was for ruining my wedding!” Jasmine spat at the man as she and Kairi high-fived each other.

Sora stopped for a moment, regaining his breath as he reverted back to his normal form. He looked up at the scene around him, pulling out a potion at the same time. He bit off the cork and chugged the green liquid, feeling his energy return. Taking a lesson from Meg, Sora threw the bottle at one of the great elephant-Heartless, getting its attention. It charged him, and Sora charged back, sliding underneath it between its front legs, using _Kingdom Key_ to knock one leg out from under it. On the other side, he pushed off a pillar that was still standing and slid back under, this time knocking a back foot on the opposite side out. The beast toppled over and Sora bashed at its head, casting Gravira when he felt it was about to get back up. Soon, the Heartless disappeared. “One down,” he panted, and charged off again.

“How are we supposed to deal with the Heartless if the thieves are in the way?” Riku growled in irritation catching one of the thieves’ blades under his arm slamming his foot into his gut, catching another by the neck with the _Way to Dawn_ and slamming him into a wall. All the while trying to make sure Mae didn’t have a coughing fit and pass out.

Meg’s shoulder twitched at the sound of a loud crash. Looking around she saw one of the chandeliers had come crashing down on a few of the thieves, and Abu darting away from the loosened support rope. Looking up to where the chandelier had come from, she saw Genie still trying to hold up the almost nonexistent ceiling. “Genie!” she called up to the blue man. “We could really use your help!”

Genie moved, looking at the sky behind a single Genie-shaped stone patch. “Guess there’s really no point to this now,” He muttered and puffed up, a towering man between Meg and the oncoming thieves. The little brunette peeked around him as the three showed off their individual ‘skills’.

Genie blinked before casting a scheming look over his shoulder at the girl and _poof_ ed into three black-clad warriors. “Ninjas!” Meg cheered unable to help laughing as the three thieves ran in terror.

“You know, from what I saw up there, you’re pretty good at that ice thing Meg.” He observed returning to his usual state.

“I’m making it work,” The girl shrugged as the Genie picked up one of the normal elephants. “As all I _know_ is Blizzard.” She giggled as he used the trunk as a high pressure air gun to blow away more of the thieves.

The elephant went limp and the Genie set it down. “Well we need to remedy that! Being a one trick pony is, like, _so_ out of date, girlfriend!” He grinned at her and snapped his fingers.

Meg felt a surge of something akin to coffee on an empty stomach, a wide-eyed jittery feeling. “Wh-what?”

“Go ahead try it out!” He said _poof_ ing away. The girl blinked a little and then licked her lips and gave it a shot, swinging her arm out and unleashing a literal shock wave. Meg gaped for a moment. Were people supposed to learn Magic that fast? She swore Merlin had said Thunder was a higher ranking spell!

Riku’s head snapped around at a crashing sound and a brilliant gold flash. “Since when did Meg learn Thunder!?”

Axel backed up when he caught one of his Chakrams, bumping into the Tin Man. He cast a glance into the younger twin’s direction. “She’s just full of surprises, isn’t she?”

“Down boy!” Mae commanded the elephant-Heartless as it tossed its head out of the way of yet another of her attacks. She scowled. “Fine. Have it _your_ way!” Her eyes darted to each side of the beast, before spotting a slab of rubble. She dashed towards it, hopping from one piece to the next until she was behind the giant Heartless. It reared back and Mae saw her opportunity to jump onto the beast’s back. When its front feet hit the floor again, she scurried up to grip tightly to its neck with her legs and bash away at its head.

Meg snapped from her daze just in time to dodge the Heartless bucking about, trying to dislodge her older sister. She managed to avoid all of the beast’s legs, only to be slapped to one side by the wildly swinging trunk. She tumbled across the floor before being brought to a halt by a large piece of debris where she scrambled up to her knees, coughing in a desperate attempt to regain her breath and slid into a crevasse between the hunks of stone pavilion to be out of the way.

It all happened too fast for Mae to warn her sister, and the repercussions of her sister’s impact made Mae lose her grip on the Heartless’ neck, and she was thrown flying as well. “Shiiiiit!” Mae’s exclamation elevated into a shriek as she came closer to landfall. She landed on her back, which was painful enough without all the bits and pieces of rock digging in. Mae barked out a couple coughs as she tried to catch a breath. She flipped over, trying to get her arms under her to push herself up, but the coughs had started to become increasingly unrelenting. She looked back over her shoulder to see that the Heartless had come to realize it no longer had a passenger.  
  
Kairi skidded to a stop when she heard the first impact. “Meg!” she exclaimed, then saw Mae land further off, “Mae!”  
  
“Kairi! Quit gawking!” the Princess was suddenly tackled to the floor, where she and her attacker slid on the marble before he stopped them both on a piece of rubble with an arm. One of the giant elephant-Heartless charged through where she had just been standing. The redwood haired girl looked back over her shoulder.

“Axel!” she exclaimed, frankly unprepared for her ex-kidnapper to save her from a trampling.

Axel wasn’t paying attention to her as he scanned the nearly demolished grand hall, one arm still braced up against the rubble. “Hey there,” he panted, as he continued to scan the area. Catching sight of one of his Chakrams, he got to his feet again, “Be a good princess and―”

“―But what about the twins!?” Kairi interrupted, standing and glancing back over at the teen that had been formerly been grasping onto the Heartless’ back.

“They’ll be fine,” he told her without really looking, “Now, go find your Keyblade Master and let him watch your back so I don’t have to anymore!” With that he sprang back into the fray, snatching up his Chakram as he went.

“Okay…” Kairi called timidly after him, feeling slightly dejected after his parting comment before going back off in the direction Sora had gone.

“Damnit Mae!” Riku hissed appearing at the twin’s side and pulling her into a sitting position and a bottle from its loop at her hip making her take at least the first swallow before looking around.

“Go, go!” Mae wheezed, pushing the bottle away from her mouth, “You need to find Meg!”

Riku pursed his lips and looked around. He pushed the open bottle into her hands. “Hey, anyone seen Meg?” He yelled,standing but not leaving Mae’s side while she drank.

Sora paused as the Elephant-Heartless he had been fighting dissolved, following Axel with his eyes briefly before looking around for the twin. “How many of these things have we got left anyway?” he murmured to himself, tightening his grip on _Kingdom Key_ at his side.

The thieves had fled the scene and all that remained was the last elephant Heartless allowing Kairi to divert from her path towards Sora back towards where she had last seen Meg. It took a moment, but the princess soon found the younger twin curled up between two pieces of debris, coughing. “You alright Meg?” Kairi asked before casting Cure on the younger twin.

“I’m fine I’m fine! But Mae fell―her ribs!” The girl protested, waving her hand as if trying to sweep away the magic. She coughed a few times wincing at the second-hand pain. “Go help Riku and Mae!”

The Princess of Heart chewed her lip. “Don’t worry I’ll keep an eye on her,” the girls looked up to Axel who had ended up following Kairi anyways. He shrugged, “It seems to be my reoccurring job so I might as well volunteer for it. You go, the Spitfire needs you more than we do here.” Kairi nodded and hurried off.

Riku grabbed the back of Mae’s jacket, pulling her back with him to avoid the Heartless’ thrashing trunk. _Oh no. I’m_ _not_ _going sit out of a fight because of this dumb injury again,_ Mae thought and summoned her Keyblade and used it to slowly make her way to her feet while simultaneously swallowing a cough. She shifted the hilt of her Keyblade in her hand again into a more fight-ready position, looked down at it, and with as much power as she could muster threw it at the last offending Heartless. The purple weapon spun in the air striking the Elephant Heartless in the head.

“Idiot! Stay down!” Riku ordered. “I don’t want to have to carry you back to Aerith again!”

“You won’t have to!” Mae snapped as her Keyblade circled back to her. She used its momentum to shift into a battle position, “Gimme another Potion if it bothers you so much!”

“Didn’t Aerith say to take care of your ribs!?” he demanded pushing another Potion to her before taking off towards a pile of debris. Using the jagged slabs of marble as a spring board he caught hold of one of the Elephants tusks, pulling himself up on top of it briefly before jumping off and slamming into the other breaking it off.

Mae chugged the potion and could feel her throat’s irritation lessen, the pain of her ribs a dull ache. She tossed the empty bottle into a pile of rubble, and caught a glimpse of ice out of the corner of her eye: the melting slab between her, the Heartless, and the Tin Man from when Meg had frozen the floor. Without much more thought, she ran forward and hopped up, sending both her and the ice slab gliding swiftly towards the remaining battle. It was a straight shot; save for the elephant-Heartless legs that seemed to change position constantly. She honed in on the Heartless’ movements; it was a lot harder to read the actions of an elephant than of a human opponent, but when she saw her opportunity she pushed off the floor to give herself a little more power and glided under the belly of the beast. She hopped off when she got to Riku on the other side, letting the slab of ice continue on without her. She poised herself for battle again. “If she didn’t want me to fight yet she wouldn’t have let me go.”

“Right, ‘cause Aerith was totally expecting you to fall off an Elephant and continue running headlong into fights,” Riku rolled his eyes sarcastically kicking another slab of ice up on end and hitting it with his Keyblade towards the creature’s huge legs. “That fall would have been bad on someone whose ribs weren’t _already_ damaged, but here you are acting like it’s nothing.”

Mae glared. “Lecture me later,” she replied, eyebrows still knitted together more in determination than anger, “Can we just agree to finish this thing off before it kills us _both_!?” She held her free hand up between them at eye-level, waiting for him.

He knew he shouldn’t go along with this, positive reinforcement was no way to deter her from this brash stubbornness, but it wasn’t any better of a plan to stand there butting heads with her. He looked down at her hand between them and arched a brow at her.

“We cool? Now launch me,” she ordered completely serious, hand still up.

“What?! No we are not cool! You want me to do what!?” he demanded.

“I only lost my grip because Meg got the wind knocked out of her!” Mae defended, “Now _launch_ me! I’ll go from above you get it from below, alright?!” After a brief pause she added, “Would you rather me below to get kicked around?!”

She had to have a few screws loose, she just _had_ to, but if this plan of hers was going to be executed, he sure as hell didn’t want her underneath. “Fine.” He sighed taking her hand.

Mae pulled herself up and used his leg as a boost, leaping up on top of the elephant-Heartless’ back, settling herself behind its neck again. “You’ve got a lot of neck here,” the elder twin muttered more to herself than the beast, “But even you should have a pressure point right about… _here_!” She stabbed her Keyblade down into the Heartless’ neck and held on for dear life as the monster froze up and began to teeter and fall to the ground. Riku hissed and surged forward as the Heartless fell on its side, repeating his trick of catapulting off the edge of the debris and slamming into the creature’s side, driving its fall into the ground, and probably severely damaging its ribs. Mae couldn’t help smiling over the fact that it worked. She then realized that she was on top of a Heartless that was going to be gone in a matter of seconds. “Shit!”

“Shit!” Riku echoed running over he caught her, collapsing to the ground under her weight. He blinked a little. “That was idiotic. I can’t believe it worked.”

“I know right!?” she exclaimed unable to keep the brightness from her eyes and excitement from her voice. Adrenaline fading fast, she glanced down and noticed he was still holding her, even while they were on the floor. “Thanks.”

He blinked. “You’re welcome.”

“Can’t help but notice that the yelling stopped,” Axel remarked to the younger twin he had pulled from her cubby, drawing her attention to her sibling and the Tin Man.

“Are you guys okay?” Meg called over to them.

“Yeah, yeah we’re fine!” Riku said helping Mae to her feet as he stood himself.

There were a few more rumbling sounds as the last few pillars crumbled away, Meg cringed, flinching away from each column as it crumbled in turn. “This is not my fault! This was not built to code!” Genie proclaimed from somewhere.

“Oh my,” the Sultan breathed, emerging from where he had been hiding during the fight.

“Good luck getting back the catering deposit,” Iago muttered flying off the short man’s shoulder.

“Fear not old Father of the bride we can rebuild!” Mae’s attention flitted over to Genie, who she wondered had any other volume other than loud.

“Oh please do, we can’t have a wedding without a pavilion,” the Sultan said in his anxious way.

“They…can’t?” Meg asked confused, looking up at Axel who shrugged in a ‘the hell if I know’ manner.

“Alright, a wedding pavilion it is my man!” Iago, Abu, and Carpet joined the ranks of construction workers.

“Yes, yes Genie, whatever it takes,” the Sultan said, “I am _sorry_ about all this Jasmine.” The Sultan turned to find empty space, “Daughter?”

Meg looked around to see the princess-nearly-a-bride walking towards where Aladdin was and followed. The princess wandered among the wreckage of the gift room. “What were they after?” she asked her fiancé, looking at one of the many disordered gifts on the floor, seeing her reflection in the gold, “The gifts?”

“If they were they missed a few…” Mae mumbled to herself sarcastically as she came in looking around what was left of the room; it didn’t look as if _any_ of them were missing, just knocked around a bit.

“Well that doesn’t make sense,” Meg commented coming to her sister’s side.  
  
“Not all the gifts,” the would-be-prince said, holding a staff, “This is what the King of Thieves wanted.”

“With all the great stuff why go for this thing?” Iago asked perching on the end of the thing.

The staff began to glow, and a voice rang out, **“YOUR QUESTION IS MINE TO ANSWER!** ” The staff floated out of Aladdin’s hands to the remarkably clear center of the room. The light collected and took the shape of a woman, “ **The King of Thieves sought my sight to seek the ultimate treasure.** ”

“Did someone say ‘ultimate’ and ‘treasure’!?” the red parrot asked, a bright, giddy light growing in his eyes.

“Genie?” Al looked up at the blue man currently sporting a pair of sunglasses.

“Oh…Looks like an Oracle!” the genie awed.

“ **I see all that has been and all that will be** ,” the woman of light announced.

“Uh-oh, uh-oh defiantly an Oracle knows the future uh-oh,” the man said before disappearing and showing up next to Jasmine, “Girlfriend where were you _registered_?”

“Is this… _normal_ for you all?” Meg asked looking around at the others, who all shook their heads with various degrees of dazed and suspicious looks.

“Okay so you know all, so tell all!” Iago demanded walking up to the Oracle. “Where is the treasure? You know, the _ultimate_ one…?” he said rubbing his wings together.

“ **I am bound by the Rule of One,** ” she stated, “ **One question, one answer**.”

“I only _want_ one answer!” Iago screeched, “Where. Is. The _ultimate_. TREASURE!?”

“ ** _You_ have already asked your question** ,” she pointed out, sounding put out.

The bird flew up to look into the face of the un-amused Oracle. “What you mean before? Oh, that wasn’t a question! That was, uh, thinkin’ out loud!”

Genie pulled the bird down, pressing his beak to his nose. “ _Very_ loud,” he stated, letting the bird fly away.

Jasmine came from behind her should-be-husband, resting her hands on his shoulders and peeking over one to see his face. “Aladdin, we could learn _anything_!” she told him, coming to his side and taking his hands, “About our lives, our _future_!”

“Meg, we could ask where _home_ is!” Mae looked to her sister, taking one of the younger’s hands and squeezing it.

“ **You have but to ask,** ” the Oracle said.

“I know what my future is,” Aladdin said turning to Jasmine, “My future is you.” He took her hands before his face fell a little. “But my past? It’s a blank…My mother died when I was just a kid,” he released her hands taking the blue and gold dagger from his sash, “And I never knew my father. I have no idea where I come from.”

“ **Your question is your choice. But remember the rule of one. Choose carefully,** ” the Oracle said, not specifying which party she was talking to.

Iago scoffed at Riku’s feet. “Sure she warns _him_ about the ‘one question’ thing!” he grumbled pacing in a loose circle. The Tin Man rolled his eyes and subtly kicked the bird away from him. Meg stifled a snort at the mock-innocent expression on the silver haired boy’s face.

Aladdin continued, ignoring the launched bird. “I don’t think you can help me,” he said turning away slowly, “My past isn’t a one question, it’s a million questions!”

“ **Ahhh but mere questions about your past can be answered by your _father_** ,” the Oracle’s statement was met by shock from all of them. The Oracle answered by projecting an image of an older man whose black hair was graying at the temples, but still appeared to be in good health, bearing a striking resemblance to the almost-prince.

Aladdin approached slowly in a sort of daze. “My Father’s alive?”

Mae’s mouth went dry, jealousy twisting her gut. “This is a good thing, right?” Axel brought up from his place near the back leaned up against a wall.

“Yeah! This is great, Al!” the Keyblade Hero pivoted to face his old friend, “Your _father_! After all these years!”

The former street-rat stood looking shocked and dazed for a moment before shaking his head. “I need some time to think…” He said walking towards the exit. The others turned to follow.

“ **Your journey continues, Children of the Cornerstone. A new path has been set before you.** ” The Oracle said and returned to her staff.

Kairi walked up, catching the staff in its decent. “Thank you,” she whispered to the woman within the staff with a warm smile before she handed the staff to Jasmine.

“Wonder what ‘Children of the Cornerstone’ means,” Sora thought out loud, tilting his head with furrowed eyebrows, “I’ve never heard that one before.”

“Is ‘Cornerstone’ some sort of reference to the Keyblades?” Meg asked tipping her head.

“None that _I’ve_ ever heard,” Sora answered with a shrug, “‘pure heart’ and ‘light heart’ I hear…But the Cornerstone _of Light_ is a thing. It protects Disney Castle.”

“Something the Organization used maybe? Goodness knows they had the flare the dramatic.” Riku glared sidelong at the redhead.

Axel raised an eyebrow. “What? You think we had some cute little code word for you people?” he asked crossing his arms over his chest, “Believe it or not, I'm no expert on Keybladers.” He closed his eyes to keep from absently glancing at Sora.

“In any case,” Meg sighed before Riku could say anything more. “The Oracle said something about a path opening; I take it that means something for us?”

“It means that there’s another world out there that needs us,” Riku said turning his attention to the twin. “You gonna be okay leaving Aladdin?” he asked Sora.

“Don’t you worry about Al, we’ll take care of him,” Genie grinned. The Keyblade Hero nodded and turned to leave, the others following close behind.

Mae stood still, biting into her lip before turning to the natives. “Genie, Your Highness,” she called and pursed her lips, still hesitant, “Don’t let Aladdin pass up what might be his only opportunity to know his father. Just―” She stopped herself when she found her voice trembling as she grasped for words. “―don’t.”

“Don’t you worry, we’ll figure out what’s best,” Genie encouraged. Mae nodded with a small smile and followed after the others.

Meg’s brows furrowed. She thought to advise them _not_ to push Aladdin into making a decision, knowing your father wasn’t key in defining _anything_ about yourself, especially not one who was gone your whole life. But _Mae_ was the one who knew about fathers, not her. “Thank you so much for the gift Genie, and I hope you and Aladdin finish the ceremony really soon Your Highness,” she bowed a little to Jasmine.

“Come on guys!” Sora called, turning from the exit back to the twins, “Time for us to split!”

“Yeah, let’s get out of this sand trap!”

Meg blinked over her shoulder at the redhead. “You mean, you’re coming with us?”

Axel shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Sora wouldn’t leave me alone about it,” he reasoned, “And with the ways we seem to be _destined_ to meet, I’d get to worrying about what trouble you’re getting into anyways.”

Sora’s attention piqued from up ahead and he turned back suddenly to face them, “Wait, you mean you’re _serious_ about coming?!”

The ex-Nobody shrugged, “I doubt I could shake you if I tried.” The Keyblade Master gave an exuberant cheer.

Riku was about to comment about the wisdom of having one of their former enemies with them, but Meg spoke first. “That’s great! I’m really glad you decided to come with us, Axel.” The silver haired teens jaw snapped shut; Meg’s delighted expression was just far too cute to dash. _She deserves the ‘win’_ He reasoned.

“Good thing we’ve got the seats to accommodate,” Mae remarked with a slight smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAY'S EVERYONE!  
> Thanks again to our lovely Beta reader for catching our goofs and being so on top of it!  
> So, it was mentioned that we were supposedly gonna be posting character art sometime...yeah Simply is being a little clammy and anxious about putting it up. Simply is the artist in case you were wondering.  
> Thanks for reading and hope you all have a great New Year!


	6. Halloween Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's this? What's this? There's Heartless everywhere!

          “Alright! Halloween Town!” Sora cheered from the cockpit as they landed.

“Halloween Town?” Mae echoed, looking out the window, “As in―”

“A world that revolves completely around Halloween? Yes,” Sora answered with a confident grin as he emerged from the cockpit.

“Well that sounds…dark,” Meg observed slowly.

“It is,” Riku agreed, “We’re gonna stick out as we are now.” He turned to Sora. “Any ideas?”

"Actually..." Kairi began, slowly standing up from her seat. She looked down at the floor tiles when the eyes in the room turned to her. "Aerith taught me how to do this kind of stuff," she explained, "So if you guys―"

“Kairi that’s great!” Sora proclaimed and the Princess of Heart blushed.

“Well then, get on with it,” Axel prompted from his seat behind her.

Taken slightly aback, Kairi stammered and summoned her Keyblade, “Oh. Well, um, Aerith said that the Magic did most of the work so…” she stopped herself and focused, her redwood eyebrows knitted together as she held her Keyblade out in front of her with both hands.

There was a little bit of a _bump_ and _thump_ as Meg stumbled and fell. The girl giggled. “Think you went a little bit over board with the hat Kairi.” She said, pushing the hat back off her eyes. It was an enormous black witch hat whose point was so long it flopped over the back, trailed down to about the small of her back before curling over into a spiral. The band on the hat was a strange florescent teal, sprouting two little bat wings. She had on a black dress with big tattered bell sleeves reigned in a little by teal bands just below her shoulder and just above her elbow on either side. The equally tattered skirt was layered and gathered up at her hip with three lime green pouches, revealing the underside of the skirt to be the same florescent teal as the bands on her hat and sleeves, and a pair of black shorts beneath the skirt. She had a teal corset on with a spider web motif, lime green and black striped over-the-knee stockings, and soft black leather boots folded over a little above the ankle.

Kairi couldn’t help a giggle of her own, “Sorry Meg, but not bad for a first try, right?” Kairi’s tunic top had turned into a black dress with long sleeves and elegant puffs at her shoulders. She had lost her shrug and instead gained a dusty pink, rose patterned corset and a dark grey bustle had been added, lined in the same dusty pink. She had on fishnets with dusty rose ribbons lacing up her legs from her little polished Mary Jane shoes. All the fabric was tattered and frayed. She still had her little gold pendant, and the only other accessory that had been added was a hair piece. A single scarlet rose, nested in forest green thorn vines, and few leaves, her face having paled and taken on the appearance of porcelain, even cracked in places.

“Very funny,” Mae piped up sarcastically as she looked herself over. At first she was a little annoyed about having been put in a pair of tight fitting black pants until she noticed her steel toed black boots. She developed a quick fondness for them, they had steel-colored triangular straps over the lacing, like armor plating, and they were knee high. She had still the two belts of a dusty blue, one slung across her hips, the other serving its purpose to hold Potion and water bottles. Her top appeared to be a black and navy pinstriped tank top, over which she had a black jacket with a touch of fur trim around the collar, the sleeves were fishnet, with dusty blue bands just above the elbow and a pair of simple black fingerless gloves. She had her black moon choker still as an accessory, but also a pair of twitching black cat ears on top of her head and a long black cat tail swaying back and forth, and her absolute favorite part: claws. “Make the magician’s sister a black cat, very clever,” She said with a hint of genuine amusement adjusting the cat mask pinned to the side of her head.

There was a snort. “Fits your personality well enough,” Riku commented. Mae hissed at him on instinct. The Tin Man’s white hair had been pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. His vest and sleeveless shirt had become a black high collared double-breasted coat of a military-like feel with a silvery trim and large ornate cuffs. On close inspection the dark steel buttons on the coat’s face and cuffs were shaped like skulls and pinned on his left shoulder was a broach of a devil and angel wing intertwined trailing light chains across his chest, like old fashion military braiding. A silver lined black shoulder cape, dark pants and a tall pair of boots added to the military feel of the ensemble. To complete the ensemble, the Tin Man had acquired wings, black wings that faded to white at the bottom, and not just because of the bone peeking out from among the feathers, and like Mae had a mask pinned to the side of his head, though while there’s were more whimsical his was a little more like one seen in at Carnival, the face split down the middle; one side white the other black with a touch of feathered embellishment of the opposite color giving it a yin-yang type feel.

“Don’t be silly guys! Kairi, you did an _awesome_ job!” Sora assured the living princess-doll, in his vampire-pumpkin-mask getup. Her actual blush showed up vividly behind her painted one on her pale cheeks.

“Well this brings back memories,” eyes turned to the fire-user’s utterance. The tall redhead had adopted a black shirt, with a double-breasted, pinstriped vest, a crimson tie, and black slacks, a dark red pouch strapped to his thigh just above his knee on his right leg. The coat he wore seemed to be a throwback to the coat he wore in his days in the Organization, a little longer in length, without the zipper and silver ornamentation. The hem was tattered and frayed like so many of the others, the inside lining the same deep crimson as the pouch on his leg, and down the arms of the coat was a pattern of stylized flames. Like Riku, he had acquired wings, but his were black bat wings. And he also adorned a pair of three horns along his head, nearly disappearing into his crimson spikes if not for their ebony color. Like Kairi, his skin had taken on a new quality as well, in the form of dark red dragon scales creeping along his hair line and trailing down along his cheek bones.

“What, being a devil?” Riku asked glaring at him sidelong.

Axel merely growled at him. “Remind me why I decided to tag along with you kids again?” he seethed, through his teeth. He turned on heel and began walking down the orange-lit road, coat billowing out behind him in a way that was almost _too_ familiar. “Come on.”

“Pretty sure he’s a _dragon_.” Meg corrected with a sigh pushing her hat back again, looking him over arching a brow slightly, purposefully not reaching for the little silver dragon that always hung around her neck. The girl twitched and followed after the others, the brim of her hat hiding her face.

Mae’s fully-functioning cat ears flicked back. “Perky, these two,” she muttered under her breath before moving to follow.

Sora was right behind her. “Yeah guys, let’s go! We gotta see Jack and Sa―” he cut himself off mid-word, getting the most impish look on his face, emphasized by his fangs, “Oh Riku I can’t wait to see your _face_!”

Riku scowled at his friend’s retreating back. “I feel I ought to be afraid,” he muttered to himself.

Meg looked up and around at the area. “Um, isn’t that sort of the idea?” she asked arching a brow, despite feeling anxious herself, she’d never been a big fan of Halloween.

“I meant Sora’s comment,” Riku told her looking back at the witch girl. He lifted up the huge brim of her hat. “Can you see where you’re going under there?” he asked.

“Yeah I can,” the girl said, tugging the back of the brim to lift it off her eyes.

The Tin Man chuckled a little before turning back to Sora. “Speaking of direction, Sora, are we headed for the town square?” he asked.

“Thought it was obvious there was only one direction to _go_ ,” Mae pointed out to him.

“Yeah!” Sora answered from up ahead, seemingly unaware of the elder twin’s jab, “We’ll see if Jack’s around there, and if not he’d probably in Dr. Finkelstein's Lab or something.”

“Who?” Meg asked, hanging on to the back of her hat as she followed cautiously behind the more confident members of the crew striding ahead.

“Jack Skellington, The Pumpkin King!” Sora announced, with an evil cackle, or an attempt at one.

Meg cocked her head a little, the title bringing to mind a giant jack-o-lantern with a crown. “Okay…” she said slowly, unconvinced that this would be a man she wanted to meet. But, she guessed if this man was a friend of Sora’s, so he couldn’t be too bad.

“Geez Sora, you weren’t kidding when you said this world _revolved_ around Halloween…” Mae called from the end of the alley. When the rest caught up, they were greeted by a large town square or, more accurately, a town _circle_ , with three tiers and a ghoulish fountain spewing water that they could all agree _wasn’t_ safe to drink in the center of the lowermost level. On their way down the steps as the wandered in, they passed a guillotine on the second level, giving the square its namesake, and several iron lampposts with hanging lights dotting the area, giving off an eerie orange glow. The plaza was lined with rickety buildings that physics shouldn’t have allowed to _stand_ , let alone accommodate people. _Then again_ , Mae noted as she heard a heavy door on the opposite side of the square shut, _if they’re all as slender as Mr. Skeleton-Man over there―_

“Jack! Hey!” Sora greeted jumping up, waving an arm to get the native’s attention.

The man stopped and looked around, his skeletal face lit up. “Sora!” He said and in two steps he was right in front of them. “Wonderful to see you again! Where are Donald and Goofy?”

Meg blinked. _Oh! Skellington!_ She realized suddenly as she took a step forward, gently taking hold of Axel’s sleeve. “He’s taller then you!” she whispered to him.

The redhead looked down over his shoulder at her. “Believe it or not, I’m not the Worlds’ Tallest Man,” he remarked as Sora explained the situation to the Pumpkin King who was, as much to his surprise as Meg’s, not a pumpkin of any sort.

“Coulda fooled me…” Meg muttered under her breath dropping her hand to her side.

“Wow you boys just don’t catch a break huh?” Jack asked. “So who’s your new team?” he asked, motioning to the team with both hands.

Sora looked back over his shoulder at them. “Well there’s Riku, and that’s Kairi, you remember me talking about them before,” he began, pointing out each in turn, “Then there are the twins, Meg in the hat and Mae with the ears, we’re looking for their world so they can go home. And then last but not least that tall guy is Axel.” The Keybearer flashed the redhead a grin.

“Marvelous! I’m Jack Skellington; it’s such a pleasure to meet you all!” Jack said shaking each of their hands. “Especially you two, Sora’s been looking for you for as long as I’ve known him!” he beamed at Riku and Kairi.

“Pleasure’s ours,” Meg murmured feeling a little weird about shaking hands with a skeleton, “Um, were you on your way somewhere, Mr. Skellington?”

“Oh, Jack will do nicely. I was on my way to Christmas Town,” he said motioning back along where they came, “My good friend Sandy Claws asked me to come by.”

“ _Christmas_ Town?” Mae echoed, one cherry-chocolate eyebrow raised, “Goodness, do you have a New Year’s City too? Thanksgiving Village by any chance? St. Patrick’s Shire?”

Meg let out a little giggle. “Hmm, I don’t know, but it would explain all those other doors,” the skeleton mused. “Anyway, this way Ladies and Gentleman!” Jack said motioning and taking off.

“ _Yes_!” Sora’s cheer was more of a muted hiss of victory before hurrying to match pace with the long-limbed Pumpkin King, his Porcelain-Princess hurrying after.

“Anyone _else_ think Sora’s just a _touch_ more excited than normal?” Axel mused as he moved with the rest of them to follow at a slower pace.

Riku sighed. “We’re headed to _Christmas Town_ ,” he reminded him as they walked foreword with him, turning a little bit to make sure Meg wasn’t tripping.

They had caught up to Kairi by this point, who had given up trying to keep pace with Jack’s long legs and Sora’s enthusiasm. She giggled a bit at Riku’s comment, “Sora’s always been… _enthusiastic_ about the holidays.”

“No kidding,” Mae snorted a chuckle of her own in agreement.

The party went marching on back down the cobblestone street, through a small graveyard, up a hill and into a forest of bare trees, and after a while there was a clearing with an arrangement of trees with doors in the trunks.

“So… _these_ were those other doors you were talking about,” Mae stated as they wandered further in, closer to the central tree with a door shaped as a fully-decorated Christmas tree. Looking around she saw five other trees with doors lining the area, a four-leaf clover door that she assumed was for St. Patrick’s Day, a heart that _had_ to be for Valentines, a turkey for Thanksgiving, what looked most like an actual door was actually a firework that must have been for New Years, and a decorated egg that could be for no other holiday than Easter. “A…little unorthodox, but ok,” Mae nodded absently to herself as she looked around.

“Come on guys!” Sora’s excited cry called their attention back to the center door, that he and Jack already had open.

Meg walked up and peeked in the door over Sora’s shoulder, having to catch her hat by the brim again as a winter wind blew up from the hollow. “Are we okay to go dressed like this?”

“I’m sure it’s fine, but, Kairi?” Sora turned to the living doll who perked at the sound of her name, “It’s really your call. You think you can pull another form change again so soon?”

Kairi’s rouge-dusted cheeks grew rosier. “I don’t think so, sorry,” she nearly cringed bashfully.

“Oh that’s alright, it’ll be just fine. Come along now!” Jack said and jumped in.

“Oh this isn’t going to be a fun landing, I can tell,” Mae commented, peeking inside before tugging one of her Potions from her belt and jumping in.

“You’re a _cat_!” Meg called after her, swinging one leg over the lip. “Well, when logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead.” She muttered to herself squeezing her eyes tight as she dropped down.

Kairi came up hesitantly after watching the impossibly tall man and twins all but vanish downward through the door. “It’s ok Kairi,” she looked up sharply at her Keyblade Hero still holding the door open for her, “ _Christmas_.” Kairi couldn’t help but smile at him, accepting the hand he extended to her and jumped down inside, Sora following shortly after.

Meg landed face first in the snow. “Well that was―” she began to say, starting to get up, but she only got so far before Sora and Kairi landed on top of her. “Ow!”

“Sorry! Sorry Meg!” Kairi cried hastily rolling off the twin.

Riku almost landed on his feet, if Kairi hadn’t rolled into his path, causing him to stumble and fall, almost on top of her but managed to catch himself at the last minute. Leaving Axel and Jack the only two to manage to land on their feet.

Sora got up, dusting himself off. “I will never understand how you manage to do that,” Sora commented in Jack’s direction, helping Kairi to her feet.

“I had a feeling the landing might go this way,” Mae cringed, moving to sit up herself, “And that’s why I have _this_ out already.” The elder twin tugged the cork out of her potion flask and chugged its contents. “Didn’t expect snow though.”

“So where are we headed, Jack?” Kairi asked the skeleton-man.

“To meet with Sandy Claws of course,” Jack said, walking down the snowy slope, “He contacted me; said we needed to talk.”

Meg got up dusting snow from her dark clothing and picking up her hat, brunette hair hanging around her shoulders. Riku got up as well, holding out his hand to Mae for a moment before something caught his eye.

“Maybe they have something to do with it?” he asked motioning to the dark shadows shifting towards them and summoned his blade at the same time.

Mae got up by herself, brown eyes narrowing as she summoned her own Keyblade, “Looks like Christmas Town has a Heartless problem.”

“That’s enough to damper anyone’s holiday cheer,” Axel retorted with a smirk, happy for less introductions and more action.

“Creatures of Darkness showing up in _Christmas_ town?” Meg sighed reluctantly summoning her Keyblade, “That’s just―”

She didn’t quite finish the sentence as the skeleton joined them. “These fellows again?” Jack asked, “En guard my friends!”

Mae followed Sora’s lead, charging what looked to be a box standing up on its hands sticking straight out the bottom. Sora saw the pumpkin head peek out of the lid of the box as Mae slid down the snowy slope past him. “Wait, Mae that’s a Graveyard!” he called as she began bashing away at the box, “Just smacking it without knocking it up in the air will let it―!”

“― _Shit_!” Mae frantically stumbled backward as the contents of the box sprang out, jack-o-lantern head grinning wickedly as the scythes that it had for arms slashed out at her.

She was caught under her arms by someone behind her. “You and your sister are just peas in a pod, aren’t you?” Mae looked over her shoulder to Axel as he righted her before taking over, wasting no time in smacking the Heartless into the air.

As the thing flew in the air Meg fired at it, freezing it over and sending it flying backwards before it crashed into the ground. Mae busied herself with Heartless who _wouldn’t_ slice her to ribbons, thwacking a small Heartless with a green helmet and a face that resembled a drill bit and chaotic swirls in place of eyes.

“Shouldn’t you say pull?” Riku teased as he passed Meg to join the fighting, having to smack at the Graveyard a few times before he managed to knock it into the air.

From behind him he heard Meg call “Pull!” before the Heartless was sent flying away due to her assault.

Sora ducked down in time for the Heartless go soaring over his head. “Nice shot Meg!” he called.

“Thanks!” Meg called back, watching as Jack joined the fray using magic with just his boney hands.

The Heartless, having noticed the witch up the hill and her Keyblade began crawling up towards her she looked down at her Keyblade. “Okay, let’s see if we can do this again,” she muttered holding her Keyblade in both hands and tried to remember the feeling she got when Genie had given her the spell. It came fast and a moment later the yellow bands of lighting went crackling out, striking the Heartless coming towards her, and sending her staggering back a step. “This is gonna take some practice,” the brunette muttered to herself shaking out one hand still tingling from the charge.

“Meg!” the girl looked down at the white haired teen to see him knock another Graveyard into the air, and she fired of bolt of ice at it.

“Keep it up friends, we’re almost through!” Jack encouraged after defeating one of the Graveyards.

“One down one to go,” Riku said casually smacking away one of the Driller Moles as he began walking towards the Graveyard, when a bolt of lightning struck the ground just a few inches from him, causing him to jump back. He heard Mae squeal from the other side of the square.

“Sorry Riku!” Meg cried from the slope, “It’s hard to aim this one!”

He looked back up at her watching her push her hat back. “It’s the hat isn’t it?” he teased again.

“Sorry!” Kairi apologized this time from her perch atop one of the tiny houses’ roofs not too far off.

Mae spotted two ridges in the snow out of the corner of her eye moving closer to her. Just as they were about to intersect beneath her, Mae shuffled back towards a gate at the edge of the square. Two of the Driller Moles launched into the air from below the snow, drill-noses whirring, managing to surprise Mae despite expecting it to happen. The shock faded quickly, however, and as they began to fall back to the ground again Mae smashed her Keyblade into them with a combo to keep them airborne until they were only puffs of Darkness and hearts floating skyward.

Meg decided that for the sake of her friends she ought to be able to _aim_ as best she could, so she took off her hat, tossing it like a Frisbee to one side, before taking aim again, and hitting the Graveyard Axel had knocked into the air one final time.

After watching the Graveyard dissolve the Tin Man scanned the area, noting Sora end the last two Drillers with fewer hits then it took Mae to. “Well that was simple enough,” Riku commented dismissing his Keyblade, watching Meg pick up her hat before stumbling down the hill into him.

“You know if all of them are like that, I think I can manage this whole fighting thing,” Meg said as Riku used one hand to tip her hat back off her eyes, leaving one hand around her waist, despite the fact she had regained her feet.

At that moment the door to the house at the far end of the square opened. “What’s all the racket out here?! It better not be you pranksters again!” And out shuffled a large man in red.

Meg’s eyes got huge as she leaned to one side of Riku, who had gone slack jawed and a touch pale. “No way!”

“Hey! Riku! Mittens off―!” Mae stopped mid-storm across the square when she noted the jolly old man on his doorstep, although he currently didn’t look too jolly, “It’s…not possible…” Her head tilted in disbelieving confusion.

“Santa!” Sora cheered, “It’s us! We’re back!”

“Sandy Claws! How very nice to see you!” Jack said making it across the square in a few strides to shake hands with the man, “I came like you asked and brought Sora and his friends with me!”

“I see that,” the man said watching as the group collected around them, “Sora: Good to see you, Kairi my dear, you grow lovelier every year, Riku: don’t worry my boy I don’t hold grudges. Axel: I see she brought you back intact, Mae my dear, always keeping me on my toes during the year, but always nice by Christmas Eve. And little Meg: I remember your letters most fondly, I’m very pleased you made a full recovery.”

“Recovery?” Axel echoed, looking to the girl in shock.

“Can we not?” Mae asked in a very clipped manner, looking around at them.

“It is a topic that should be left to another time,” Santa agreed. “Now, I am very pleased you all could make it. But let’s not discuss this out in the cold, Mrs. Claus has some fresh ginger snaps and some cocoa,” he said leading the way back into the house.

Jack and Sora jumped into following, almost passing up the short plump man, the others followed more calmly. “Why did Santa tell you he holds no grudge?” Meg asked in a hushed tone to Riku.

“I kinda told Sora he didn’t exist,” he whispered back a little sheepishly.

“Why would you _do_ that?” Meg demanded her voice getting higher in pitch and more airy at the demand.

“We were kids!” he defended.

“That makes it worse! You probably _crushed_ the little guy!” the girl hissed pushing her hat off her eyes again as she tripped over the step up to the house.

“Ah, warmth at last!” Mae sighed, rubbing the netting on her arms to encourage the warmth to her skin underneath, tail swishing contentedly back and forth behind her, “I felt like I was gonna get frostbite if we were out in that snow much longer.”

“Oh please, you would’ve been fine,” Axel scoffed, rolling his eyes as he ducking inside behind her.

Meg giggled looking back at him. “Says the Matchstick who’s running a perpetual fever,” she pointed out to him.

“I beginning to think you’re coldblooded Mae, you know, like vipers,” Riku said flashing a grin over his shoulder at her. Mae stopped rubbing her arms to glare at him.

“So what’d ya need, Santa?” Sora asked, already in the front room, hands clasped behind his head and grinning still from his small victory.

“Please have a seat,” the man said and motioning to the plate of cookies, “I wanted to speak to Jack about a matter of some rather frightening occurrences happening in Christmas Town.”

“Hmm, it’s was most likely the Heartless to be at fault,” Riku said watching Sora snatch three of the cookies as a plump woman appeared to deliver a tray of mugs of steaming hot cocoa. Meg had taken off her hat, laying it on her knees as she settled into one of the chairs and took one of the mugs. Mae settled on the couch beside her, taking a mug of her own after Sora and Kairi.

“If ift’s Har’ress ‘at’s feh probvlem, we’re y’re crew!” Sora volunteered through a mouthful of cookie. Riku rolled his eyes taking the chair on Meg’s other side, leaving Axel to stand.

Meg blinked at him slowly, mouthing the words to try to translate, while Santa chuckled. “Oh I have no doubt of that. However I am concerned at their appearance,” he said stroking his beard, “As I recall you _sealed_ the Keyhole here.”

Sora gulped down the cookie in his mouth. “Well I guess we could check on it,” Sora asked, turning to Jack, “It has been a while.”

“Shall we check where it first appeared?” Jack asked turning to look down at the Keyblader.

“Where was that?” Meg asked.

“Oogie’s Manor,” Sora replied.

“‘Oogie’? Like the boogie man? Like ‘Oogie Boogie Man’?” Mae asked, resting her mug on her knees with an eyebrow raised.

“One in the same,” Jack said, sounding both his usual perky self and annoyed. He turned to Santa, “We’ll report back to you as soon as we’ve discovered the cause of the Heartless.” And then he turned back the others, “Come along friends! Back to Halloween Town!”

Mae looked down to her mug as everyone moved to get up again, Sora grabbing at least four more cookies for the road, and chewed her lip before taking one final swig and moving to follow before she was left behind.

“So we came all the way here, through _snow_ , to figure out we need to go _back_?” Axel asked as the group came back out into the square, obviously displeased.

“You are more than welcome to stay here,” Riku grumbled as he walked past.

“Now, if you had said that while we were still in _Halloween Town_ , I would have taken you up on that,” Axel answered, ignoring the Tin Man’s frigidness for the moment.

Meg pulled her hat back over her head, instantly having to tip it back out of her eyes. “It’s not so bad,” she said. “For you and Jack it’s only a couple steps. The rest of us have to work a little harder,” she pointed out with a little grin.

“And I would have joined you, Axel,” Mae added, rubbing the netting on her arms again, “That fall and this cold are _not_ things that I needed.”

“Oh come _on_ guys, it’s not _that_ bad!” Sora called back, he held up one of the cookies he’d taken with him, “If you hadn’t come, you’d have missed out of cookies and cocoa!”

“I think they did anyway,” Meg said hopping through the snow, following the other brunette. “You really missed out though,” she said and turning around to walk backwards to look at the two cranky boys. “It was the best―whoa!” And she tripped back, landing in the snow. She giggled swished her arms and legs in and out and up and down before standing up stumbling a little as she tried to pick up her hat and not step in the print she had left. “Mae! Look! Snow angel!” she beamed holding out her arms, presenting it to her sister.

Mae looked back at her sister over her shoulder and grinned. Her ears perked and her tail swished happily, and she couldn’t hold back the burst of a chuckle. The sharp exhale it required however, her throat was not as pleased with. She flinched, pressing a hand to her chest and squeezing her eyes shut as she forced a cough back, her ears flicking back accordingly.

Meg’s cheery expression fell and she stumbled in her hurry to get over to her sister. “Mae, you okay? I’m sorry.”

Mae held up her other hand to silence her sister before she worried _too_ much, and waited for the tightness in her chest to subside. When it did, she let the pent-up air out in a careful sigh. “Fine,” she assured, insisted really, giving Meg a reassuring half-smile.

“When we get home, we’re gonna have to talk to Mom about getting you an inhaler,” Meg muttered with a kind of uncertainty, fretting her lip.

While Meg had gone to her sister, Jack had moved over to inspect her snow angel. “That’s wonderful Meg!” he said. The girl looked over to the skeleton man as he plopped down into the snow. “How did you do that?” he asked blinking up at her, and Meg would have never believed that a _skeleton_ could look so innocent. The girl cast a glance at her sister, making sure she’d be okay without her. The reassurance in her smile turned into a smirk, and the elder twin tossed her head in the Pumpkin King’s direction, amused at the fact that the supposed embodiment of the terrors of Halloween could be so child-like.

“It’s really simple,” Meg said, bopping back over to the Pumpkin King and flopping down in the snow next to him. Axel raised an eyebrow at her, arms idly crossed over his chest as they settled in to wait for Meg’s instruction to be over. “You start by lying straight,” she told him, turning her head to look at him. “Then you lift your arms, and at the same time you pull your legs apart, then bring your arms down, and your legs back together, and repeat a few times.” She moved slowly, listening to the swishing snow beside her. “Now be careful as you get up so you don’t smudge it!” she said getting up carefully.

The pumpkin king got up and looked back. “Wonderful!” he exclaimed looking back at her. “What’d you call it?”

“Um, a snow angel,” Meg repeated, dusting snow off herself again, shivering.

“Marvelous! I’m going to make another!” Jack said, “Join me?” Meg shook her head.

“N-nah, I-I’m good,” she shivered.

A heavy coat, lined inside with red fabric, dropped over her shoulders. “Didn’t we have a Keyhole to check on?” Axel pointed out without so much as looking back over his shoulder as he continued forward.

A look of disappointment crossed Sora’s face, who was about to join Jack in making snow angels. He straightened again. “Axel’s right,” he agreed, reclaiming what cookies he had left with Kairi, “there’ll be plenty of time for snow angels _after_ the Heartless are taken care of!”

Meg made to protest about Axel giving her his coat, but gave up before she started, and instead slid her arms into the sleeves and bundled up, shuffling along. “Sorry, didn’t mean to distract us,” she said sheepishly, muffled from behind the folds of Axel’s extra-long sleeves she held up next to her face, still warm from the redhead’s natural body heat.

Riku scowled as he followed after Meg and the redhead. He didn’t like him near Meg, she was too innocent. If nothing, her rosy cheeked giddiness over her accidental snow angel just showed how much. And Axel was a double crossing Organization member.

“Alright, so someone clue me in on how we get back _up_ something we clearly fell _down_ ,” Mae asked.

Sora looked back at the elder twin, beaming, “It’s easy!”

          Meg sat up, legs underneath her, Axel’s long tattered black coat fanned out around her. “So, we fall _down_ ,” she began slowly, gesturing with her hands to match her words, but they were so utterly consumed by the sleeves that it was difficult to tell. “The _same_ hole that we went _down_ to get _to_ Christmas Town, to get back to Halloween Town,” the girl reached up under her oversized hat to scratch her head. “That, that-that-that,” after a minute she sighed. “It’s a world where the holidays are made, were you expecting it to make sense?” she muttered to herself with a sigh and began to navigate her way to her feet.

Mae wasn’t too far away, leaning back on her hands with her eyes squeezed shut and black ears pinned to her head. “Yeah, I _definitely_ didn’t need that fall _twice_ ,” she grimaced.

“Come along team!” Jack said, easily striding on, having landed on his feet, “The clearing where Oggie’s Mansion was is on the other side of town.”

“Of course it is,” Riku sighed offering his hand out to Mae.

Mae’s eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice, saw his shoes and the tattered ends of his dark cape first, then looked up at him glaring. Frustrated with herself for not being able to overcome the pain as quickly as she’d like and frustrated with Riku because it was _always him_. She didn’t like people knowing she was injured as it was, let alone people assisting her because of it. She might not have minded so much if it were Meg or someone like Sora or Kairi who, if they passed judgment, never showed it. Though Riku, his extended hand nearly _radiated_ judgment, whether she accepted his help or not.

Meg looked up, curling the hat brim back to be able to see the native without hurting her neck, too much. “It _was_ there?” she asked.

“Yeaaaah, Oogie kinda…fused with his _house_ after we beat him the first time,” Sora informed them, helping Kairi get to her feet, “So when we defeated Oogie again, his manor kinda disappeared with him.”

“And you don’t _wanna_ know what took its place after that,” Axel added, remembering how when Roxas was done venting his frustrations about the kids and their pumpkin bombs, he told the redhead all about the massive Heartless that _ate other Heartless_.

“Is it _safe_ to go there?” Meg squeaked following them.

Riku chuckled. “It’s where the Keyhole is,” he said, “They tend to attract trouble.”

“That doesn’t sound like a _good_ thing,” the younger twin protested turning back to look. “Mae? You okay?” she asked starting to come back towards her and the Tin Man.

_Great. Now_ _I’m gaining an audience._ Tail thrashing back and forth; Mae got up of her own accord. “It’s across town, right?” she asked, walking past them to follow the lanky skeleton man, “We better get moving.”

“Mae, are you sure?” Meg asked scrambling to catch up to her sister, “Your ears are all pinned back.”

“I think that means she’s annoyed,” Riku called after them, sticking his hands in his pockets as he followed.

“I’m fine, Meg,” she replied as if she hadn’t heard the ‘Fallen Angel’ say a word.

“Okay,” Meg sighed, shrinking back a little. “So―so how big is this town anyway?” she asked the others.

“Not too big,” Jack said as he continued leading them through the forest, back towards the square.

“Coming from you, ‘not too big’ doesn’t mean much,” Axel remarked, looking up at the skeleton man skeptically.

“Like you can talk Axel!” Sora laughed.

Meg giggled. “By the way Axel, do you want your jacket back?”

“You need it more than I do,” he replied, slowing his gait as he looked back at her over his shoulder, “You sure you don’t want to hold onto it? It _literally_ has no effect on me.”

“So just, _no_ temperature affects you?” Meg asked, speeding up as he slowed to meet her, “Hot or cold? At all?”

“Fire’s nifty like that,” he answered with another shrug as they settled on a pace alongside one another, “Warm enough to never be cold, but impervious to heat.” He looked over at her, tipping the brim of her hat back, “Ice is annoying, yeah, and getting wet is uncomfortable, but the temperature itself has no effect on me.”

“That must be nice,” she mused as they left the woods, “Mae hates the cold.”

Axel scoffed a laugh, releasing the wide brim of her hat, “Yeah, she’s made that much obvious.”

“Yeah, Mae’s not shy about voicing her displeasure,” she sighed reaching back to catch the back of her hat hanging onto it as they walked, “The cat ears don’t help much.”

“INCOMING!” Sora’s voice called from up ahead, reaching them just in time for them to dodge the shortest, thinnest mummy Meg had ever seen. It smacked into one of the headstones behind them, collapsing to the ground in a dizzy heap of gangly limbs.

Meg turned sharply to stare at it for a moment. “Is it―?” she didn’t finish the sentence as more popped up around them. Meg hesitated for a moment before pulling her hat off again, tossing it to one side before having to shake the sleeves of Axel coat back away from her hand to summon her Keyblade.

“Because being surrounded by a bunch of these guys is _exactly_ what we need,” Axel grumbled, summoning his Chakrams before speaking to Meg over his shoulder, “When you see an opening, I want you to take it and get your distance. Don’t approach them directly, they pack a punch. Wait to block them first, _then_ give ‘em Hell.” He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, a tall headstone not too far ahead rocking back and forth, with Mae bracing herself against it and another of the mummy Heartless a few paces away. “Just…don’t be your sister.”

Meg looked briefly at her sister. “Does magic count as ‘indirect’?” the girl asked watching the lanky skeletal creatures, the way they all swayed back and forth in perfect unison made her skin crawl.

“Whatever lights your Jack-o-Lantern,” he answered, keeping his eyes on the Wight Knights surrounding them. His grip tightened on his Chakrams. “Right, so when you see that opening, go for it. But until then, block!”

Meg giggled a little at his comment before seeing the flash of silver and fire as he launched his Chakrams, knocking one out of the ring and causing the others to lurch into action. She hadn’t mentioned to him, though she probably should have, that she hadn’t exactly been _taught_ how to block so she took her best guess and held up her Keyblade, laying the bar across her forearm a second before the Heartless smashed into her, pushing her backwards until her feet tangled in the hem of Axel coat and she fell backwards.

Mae stumbled forward, her breath knocked out of her. She recovered quickly swinging her Keyblade behind her at the Wight Knight she was trying to gain her own distance from. In doing so, she caught sight of her sister. “Meg!”

“Shit!” Axel cursed when he heard the girl tumble behind him as he caught his first Chakram. The other came back shortly after and he turned to the twin behind him, swiping with both his weapons at the Heartless that threatened to swarm her. Once he felt safe enough, he dismissed one Chakram and held his hand out to her. “What’d you do? Just _stand_ there?!”

Meg coughed once, “No, I’m just pathetic.” The girl coughed again, sitting up to shake free of his coat before taking his hand, trembling a little.

“Well, I gave you the benefit of the doubt,” he answered as she got to her feet. “You ok?” he asked, scooping his coat up from the ground and tossing it over a headstone and out of their way.

“Y-yeah,” Meg stammered shifting her Keyblade in her hand. “But, um I don’t think I’ll be trying the, um, block thing again,” she said with a thin chuckle. “Yoga and running don’t exactly prepare one for this like kickboxing does.” She muttered nodding to Mae.

“Stick to the thunder Meg!” Riku called from Mae’s side as she went pale at his words, giving her a hand with the pack of purple, horned, _flying_ creatures that had swarmed her as the cavalry to the Wight Knight Riku had demolished. “It can hit multiple targets from a safe distance.”

“I don’t think this counts as a safe distance,” Meg mumbled, glancing at Mae and scowling at the gangly creatures regaining their wits after Axel’s knocked it from them.

“Then get your distance! Now! Go!” the redhead urged, summoning his second Chakram back and throwing them out at the Heartless regaining consciousness.

Meg started to ask a question, but the Wight Knights were coming again. True yoga _wasn’t_ as preparing as kickboxing, but it _did_ give her an idea, and the _skill_ to pull it off. She bent backwards into a handspring, kicking the Heartless up into the air as she did. When she had her own feet under her again she froze it midair. And gravity did the rest.

Axel was able to see the display out of the corner of his eye. “Whatever lights your Jack-o-Lantern,” he repeated to himself, smirking at her before turning his full attention back to the Heartless.

Mae watched as one of the Gargoyles condensed into a small ball of blue light. “Oh, is that even _fair_?!” she asked after her Keyblade went straight through, having no effect on the monster.

“Just wait, it’s gonna come in close for an attack, but it has to assume its physical form first!” Riku said sending one of the ones close to him summersaulting backwards towards the back of Axel’s head, “The minute it does, smash it.”

“Oh, well I could have figured that much out, thanks,” Mae retorted, ears flicking back. She kept her eyes on the floating ball of light, the feline in her making patience difficult as her tail twitched back and forth. But she waited, and when the Gargoyle made its move Mae sprung away and dodged the creature’s initial attack before lashing out at it as it recoiled.

Riku was pleasantly surprised. He had been fairly certain that Mae was going to keep wildly beating at the incorporeal light until she had exhausted herself, probably lapsing into a coughing fit along the way leaving him having to save her again. But that didn’t stop him from making a sarcastic comment. “Right, because you _really_ know what you’re doing,” he rolled his eyes, slamming his foot into the wobbling headstone, knocking it forward onto the Heartless. Figures that after a few fights she’d be back to thinking she had this _all_ figured out.

“Well after figuring out I couldn’t hit it, it was pretty obvious what I was supposed to do. You think I’m stupid enough to try swiping at something I can’t hit?” Mae felt her tail against her legs in its irate thrashing and was suddenly made aware again of her feline likeness. “Don’t even start,” she scowled at him before she caught a yellow flash of light out of the corner of her eye before she was suddenly bathed in a red light. Raising her arm up to shield her eyes, she could vaguely make out an outline of what had to be some floating Heartless. “So they’ve resorted to just _blinding_ us now?” she squinted over at the Tin Man, “Rude.”

Riku looked over. “Shit!” he hissed and threw _Way to Dawn_ , knocking the thing away. “That would be a Search Ghost,” he said catching the Keyblade on its return with one hand and her elbow in the other as she swayed, “They steal your energy.” He arched a brow in challenge.

Mae shook her head to clear the minor haze. “That…I’ll admit wasn’t so obvious,” she agreed.

“Every world has a different set of Heartless. Every Heartless have a different set of abilities,” he said letting go of her and stepping out in front of her to smack away the returning Search Ghost.

“Thanks. Don’t get in their sights. I got it,” she replied briskly as she smacked away a Gargoyle.

“Looks like the Heartless trouble isn’t only in Christmas Town anymore Jack,” Sora mentioned to his tall skeletal friend, hitting a Wight Knight into the air before jumping up and finishing it off, “Was this happening before?”

The local finished off one of the Gargoyles circling above them with a blast of ice, before pausing to scratch his head in thought a little. “Hmm, not that I’ve been aware of,” he mused before jumping up to knock a gargoyle down for Mae to finish off, “Actually I’m quite sure. Perhaps they followed us here from Christmas Town?”

“Well isn’t that just _peachy_ ,” Axel added, coming up to join them with Meg on his heels.

“Although maybe―" Kairi paused to briefly reevaluate her words, "This is starting to sound like less of a problem that happened because of Halloween Town’s Keyhole.”

“Perhaps Christmas Town has a Keyhole of its own?” Jack suggested, before applauding Meg’s throwing the Ether bottle she just emptied at the last Gargoyle, knocking it out of the sky and at Riku’s feet, who casually launched it back into the air and with a single slash, ended it.

“Does it _have_ to be something to do with Keyholes for the Heartless to appear?” Meg asked side stepping the beam of a Search Ghost.

“I guess not,” Sora mused, blocking a Wight Knight and slamming it face down into the ground, “The Heartless came the first time because they _wanted_ the Keyhole and the Heart of the worlds, and again at the Organization’s beck and call―no offense Axel.”

The redhead sliced through a Search Ghost and shrugged at the boy indifferently. “None taken.”

Sora continued, “So I guess it could be something else this time. Don’t know _what_ , but it could.”

“So, should we even bother going to the Keyhole?” Riku asked walking up casually, seeing as the few remaining Heartless were covered by Sora, Jack and Axel. “I was under the impression Keyholes were a one-shot deal,” he said.

“Well even if it isn’t the Keyhole, something brought the Heartless here,” Meg pointed out watching Jack finish off the Search Ghost he had been focused on, “We should at _least_ investigate.”

Mae shrugged, close behind Riku. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Right!” Sora cheered, “Moonlight Hill is just through that gate, right Jack?” The brunet pointed to the other wrought-iron gate they had passed their first trip through the Graveyard to the Hinterlands.

“Correct! Onwards fellow detectives!” the skeleton said pointing before marching off.

Meg stayed by Axel as they went, shifting through her pockets. “Ether?” she asked offering it to him.

The pyro lifted his hand up to her as he snatched his jacket up from the headstone, “I’m ok.”

She scowled at him perplexed. “Does your fire not consume MP?” she asked, pausing to look around, brows furrowed. She was missing something.

“Nope,” he answered simply, “I mean, it takes energy like any other attack would, but not Magic.” He spotted the twin’s oversized hat on the ground and scooped that up as well and walked back over to her. “It’s just part of how I am,” he held the hat out to its owner, “Got it memorized?”

“Oh,” It was unclear if the reaction was to his remark or to her hat. “That must be handy,” she observed taking the hat and tucking it back over her brunette hair, “Though, I imagine _over_ using it could be hazardous to your health.”

Axel looked down, half a smirk on his face because she didn’t know how right she was. “Yeah, it was.”

She blinked up at him rapidly. “What?” her voice soft and thin out concern.

“Hey,” Riku called standing halfway over the gate’s threshold, “Meg you okay?”

The brunette jumped a little, having actually forgotten for a moment there were other people around. “No Riku, I slit her throat while you were too distracted to fearlessly defend her,” Axel called back, surprisingly deadpan for how well his voice carried. Sure, it was no way to earn the Dark Horse’s trust, but he didn’t really give a damn.

The girl in question, surprisingly, giggled. “Got no time to talk, I’m a dead girl walking,” she said with a little grin.

Riku bristled at the redhead’s remark, and Meg’s reply helped nothing, growling softly to himself in his annoyance before calling back, “Hurry up, or we’ll leave you behind.” Just faintly, they could hear Mae reprimand him up ahead with something like ‘you _better_ not!’

“Come on,” Axel flicked the brim of Meg’s hat with a slight smirk, “We don’t want to fall behind again.”

“Mhmm,” she agreed with a nodded and followed him to the gate.

          The trek was a short, through another graveyard to a field spotted with Jack-o-Lanterns and a single hill that curled into a spiral.

“That’s kinda familiar,” Meg observed mildly casting a brief glance over her shoulder to the end of her hat which did the same thing only over instead of under.

“Sure does,” Mae commented, circling around behind her sister and lifting the curl of her hat to compare.

“That’s Kairi’s camo-magic handiwork right there!” Sora proclaimed proudly, slinging an encouraging arm around his childhood friend’s shoulders. Her blush deepened the rouge on her cheeks again.

“The Magic does most of the work for me!” she reminded him, clearly flustered.

“Magic doesn’t happen on its own,” Riku pointed out patting her on the head with an encouraging smile.

“You did indeed do an excellent job Kairi! You all look delightfully terrifying!” the Pumpkin King praised. “Not much further to go now!” he added in answer to a question not yet asked and tapped what looked like a mini tombstone, causing the hill to uncurl into a bridge.

Mae blinked at the display. “Well you don’t see _that_ every day,” she stated.

“And walking, talking, skeletons are a daily occurrence on your world?” Axel offered as he passed by, “Good to know.” Mae rolled her eyes before following them across the hill and over the wall, dropping down into a small walled area with a solitary stone bridge over a channel of what looked to be the same ghastly green water the fountain in the square had been spewing. Jack-o-Lanterns were all over on their side of the bank, the only thing on the other, slightly smaller, bank was another _wrought_ -iron gate.

Meg hung back a little. Despite the fact that the whole town was dedicated to the ghoulish fun of Halloween, this was the first area that truly creeped her out. She had some unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach, like the beginnings of being sick, and she just kept hoping that they wouldn’t have to cross that bridge.

“The site of the Keyhole is just on the other side of the bridge!” Jack proclaimed, his stride not faltering for a second.

The group was nearly across the bridge when more Heartless showed up to intercept them. “I’d say we’re headed in the right direction,” Axel muttered, summoning his Chakrams again, “These pests keep intercepting us.”

Riku didn’t bat an eye, summoning his winged blade and jumping off the side of the bridge at the Gargoyle closest to him. But he didn’t fall into the neon water below, rather he landed on a ledge jutting out of the steeply sloped bank.

Meg, whose hesitation had left a large gap between her and the others fell back the step she had taken onto the bridge. She shifted her weight back further, summoning her Keyblade again. She pursed her lips, tipping her head slightly, perplexed by the little black and purple mushroom Heartless who, after looking at her for a moment, walked calmly over, hopped and few times, and released a cloud of black-purple smoke. “Oh!” Meg staggered back, pulling her sleeve up over her nose and mouth, “Mae stay away!”

“Meg!” Mae called back, whipping her head around and moving to help anyway, but was cut off by not only by Shadows, but by Axel’s Chakram.

“Do what your sister says,” the pyro ordered, “I’ll make sure she doesn’t get herself killed.”

Mae scowled as Axel fought back across the bridge to her sister’s side. “I’m gonna go down and help Riku,” Sora’s voice caught both she and the Princess’ attention as he stood on the ledge of the bridge opposite of the side the Tin Man had disappeared over, “You guys hold the fort up here, alright?”

“Never fear Sora we have your backs!” Jack proclaimed. “Or the top of your heads as the case will be! En guard ladies, these Heartless shall not prevail over us!” he said standing slightly behind both girls bending his knees a little in readiness, putting him a little closer to the same level as the two.

“Just like old times?” Riku asked Sora with a grin as he landed nearby.

“Rummaging around through sewer water fighting Heartless?” Sora tossed back in a serious tone as he fought on the small ledge, before breaking out into a playful grin at his childhood friend, “Kidding. Of course!”

The other boy laughed. “Really don’t think these guys are worth the effort though,” he said slamming one of the flaying Heartless into the steep bank at his side.

“Not for our full-force, at least!” Sora laughed in return.

The foreign sound of Tin Man’s laugh below them caught Mae off-guard. “Listen to them, laughing down there like this is no big thing,” she muttered to Kairi over her shoulder as she wacked at a Shadow in front of her.

“Well, this _is_ kind of old hat to them,” Kairi answered as the older twin finished off the Heartless, “They’ve been sparring against each other since they were kids.”

“I find it quite a pleasant change,” Jack said absently tossing a ball of fire at one of the shadows, “All the times Sora’s been here before he’s been in search for you both. It’s wonderful to finally see what all his fuss was about.” Kairi flushed again with a small smile.

Meg had managed quite well against the fungi, having kept her sleeve over her face, and a jolt of thunder had knocked them onto their backs and away from her. However, as they got up there was a little spark and the creatures turned metallic.

“Great,” Axel scoffed, scowling at the three enemies, “Don’t bother with them for now, they’re invincible like this.” He glanced over his shoulder to the remaining girls and Jack on the bridge. “Just keep them from advancing and stay away if they use that poison gas again.”

Meg nodded, shifting away from one of the mushroom-like creatures passively strolling about. It hopped a few times and the girl flinched back, preparing to retreat from another cloud of poison. There was a little cloud, but it was a small, nonlethal amount as it shifted back into its first form. “Hey there,” Meg muttered and hit the thing twice with ice.

As the other two creatures followed suit, Axel held his ground at the end of the bridge with his back to the other girls, throwing a Chakram at either Heartless while keeping an eye on Meg and the one she was taking care of. Her spells hadn’t finished it off, but it didn’t appear to be making any kind of move against her. Meg glared at it in irritation before she whipped her Keyblade around and smacked it. “Bravo,” Axel praised dryly as he caught his Chakrams and the Heartless vanished, “You _are_ actually capable of straight-up bashing into a Heartless.”

Meg crinkled her nose as she moved back towards him, tugging her hat back off her face as she came. “I guess so,” she peered down into the trench, “Are you two okay down there?”

Sora, now ankle-deep in water that they still weren’t sure was sewage or not, finished off the Wight Knight before looking up the steep bank to the witch above him. “A little wet, but all good!” he called, giving her a thumbs-up.

Riku nodded in agreement and the witch looked over at the three on the bridge. “You guys too?”

“Reporting in: all well and fine Miss Witch!” Jack said with a salute of his boney hand. “Do you fellows require assistance or backup?” he asked the two below.

Sora got up on the platform under the bridge to get out of the water. “I’m good on this side, what about you?” he asked his childhood friend as he rested a hand on the bridge above him and ducked under.

The ‘Fallen Angel’ jumped, catching the edge of the bridge and flipping over to land on his feet on the bridge. “I’m good,” he told him.

“Excellent! Let’s proceed!” Jack proclaimed, once again with a sweeping gesture and headed off.

“So, how big is this clearing exactly?” Mae asked as the group began moving again, “And how hard is this Keyhole gonna be to find in it?”

“Well the clearing is quite large,” Jack said. “But as I recall so was the Keyhole. All we need to do is find where the mansion stood.”

“Which…shouldn’t be too hard, right? Because it was massive?” Mae prompted, not looking forward to scouring a large plot of land for where a small house had been.

Sora chuckled. “It was massive,” he echoed, “It shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“Is that it?” Meg asked as they came up to a cliff, motioning to a section of the large dark clearing blow them, “Looks…sorta like a keyhole-ish shape.”

“Oh, it has _got_ to be harder than that,” Axel remarked, exasperated.

“Not necessarily,” Riku said, “We are Keyblade wielders.”

“No wonder every baddie wants you gone,” Axel said, “If everything just comes so damn _easy_ for you people…”

“What do you mean ‘you people’?” Meg asked following the others as they set off down towards the clearing via a rickety wooden path snaking downwards, “You’re part of this little group too.”

“Meg’s right, you’re not on that side of things anymore Axel!” Sora encouraged as they crossed over another murky waterway before turning his attention to the clearing, “Now let’s take care of this Keyhole!”

“How exactly do we go about that?” Meg asked, tilting her hat back a little to survey the vast expanse before them as they came to the bottom and walked through a second gate in a stone wall on the bank. Aside from the massive dark shape that, as they’d seen from above, was more easily identified as a Keyhole, the area was only dotted by a few large boulders jutting out of the ground.

“Well it’s always been kinda automatic,” Sora explained and jogged over to the Keyhole’s edge, calling back over his shoulder, “So if it’s unlocked, just getting close with a Keyblade should do the trick!” When he reached the Keyhole, he summoned Kingdom Key and waited a moment. Nothing happened. Eyebrows scrunching, he prodded the flattened dead grass with the tip of his Keyblade; still no effect.

“Maybe things _aren’t_ so easy,” Axel remarked.

“What could this mean?” Jack asked sounding a little panicked.

“It’s still locked?” Riku suggested warily.

“By the look of it,” Mae answered as Sora made his way back to join them.

“You think it might be something in Christmas Town after all?” Kairi put in.

“So, are we back to thinking Christmas Town has its _own_ Keyhole?” Meg asked in confusion.

Riku folded his arms over his chest. “I wouldn’t think so, it’s a worldwide thing.”

“Well it wouldn’t hurt to check,” Sora said.

“Great. Is there a reason we couldn’t have checked this _before_ we trudged this far just to come up with nothing?” Axel asked exasperatedly.

Jack blinked down at the redhead. “Are you always in such an irate state?” he asked.

Riku snorted. “People like him aren’t generally known for their pleasant disposition,” he stated. Axel only rolled his eyes.

“Anyways…” Sora lead them back to the point, “If we’ve gotta go back to Christmas Town, we should probably get on that, the Heartless problem won’t take care of itself.”

Meg sighed. “Are all of the ones we fought gonna be back?” she asked biting her lip hoping they’d say no.

“Maybe,” Riku shrugged.

 Sora did as well. “It’s hit-and-miss.”

“Well that’s comforting,” Mae crossed her arms over her chest, black ears flicking back.

          They reached the door to the winter wonderland without Heartless incident. The Skelton once again swung the door open. “Okay,” Meg said, “Going to try to land on my _feet_ this time.”

“I’m beginning to _really_ hate the sight of that door,” Mae added, “Cold and a hard fall, yeah, not what I call fun.”

“You could stay here,” Jack offered.

Riku snorted. “That’s a good idea, let accident prone Mae and her damaged ribs stay? Unsupervised?”

“‘Accident prone’?!” Mae echoed, aghast before scowling and pushing her sleeves up, growling, “I’ll show you something that looks like an accident―!”

“Mae,” Meg said putting a hand on her arm, “Let’s just go.”

“And you can go last so if you fall you’ll land on one of us!” Jack suggested cheerily.

Mae raised her hands to massage her temples, could she go ten minutes without being scrutinized from _every_ angle? “You know what? Forget it. I’ll deal,” she stated abrasively, “I’ll just have a Potion ready again.”

Meg bit her lip. “They’re just trying to help Mae,” she muttered, tapping her fingers softly against the dark fabric of her skirt.

“Alright then, off we go!” The Skeleton man proclaimed, the tension in the group lost on him as he jumped back down the hole in the tree.

Their trip from the Keyhole back to Santa’s Workshop was calm, and as they came through to Christmas Town it wasn’t long before Axel’s coat landed back on Meg’s shoulders, Sora and Jack got to catching up, Kairi listening quietly alongside them, Mae grumbling whenever she wasn’t drinking her Potion, and Riku rolling his eyes at her. They pushed in the front door, welcoming the cozy blast of warm air. “We’re back, Santa!” Sora called before coming from the entry hall into the front room.

“Oh, well, that was rather quick,” the large man stood up from his chair, “How was the investigation?”

“It appears…that the Keyhole in Halloween Town is still locked,” Riku said evenly, “Is it possible that Christmas Town has one of its own?”

“No, no I don’t think so. There is only one Keyhole per world,” Santa said, stroking his beard.

Meg cocked her head to one side shifting the hat she held in her hands by the brim. “So, that means…this has nothing to do with the Keyhole?”

“What else could be bringing the Heartless back though?” Kairi asked.

Sora knew one other thing. The only other thing he’d encountered before. He cast an apologetically look over at Axel. He didn’t doubt Axel, and trusted him when he said it was just him that was back. But…despite that, he felt he still had to ask. Just in case. “Have you…seen anyone around in a black coat?” Sora asked, looking back at Santa, clearly hesitant.

Riku had the same thought and was scowling sidelong at the redhead. The man was a liar. An outright con-artist. Santa shook his head. “Just Axel here, though, I suppose now it’s Meg who’s in the coat,” he smiled at her.

Meg looked down at herself. “Are black coats significant to something?”

“Organization XIII wore black coats,” Riku stated flatly.

Sora shuffled uncomfortably, unable to look at Axel anymore. “And…they’re the ones who caused this kind of trouble before…”

The redhead remained silent, hands clenched at his sides and looking at none of them. Not even Sora completely trusted him, and that stung more than he felt it should. But if Riku had been the bird in his ear for the last _year_ …

“Well it doesn’t really matter does it?” the most unexpected voice came to his defense, he looked over to Mae as she continued, cherry-chocolate eyebrows furrowed, “Santa said he didn’t see any around, so it’s _apparently_ not them.”

“Just because they haven’t been seen doesn’t mean they’re not around,” Riku told her, scowling at Axel, “They’re sneaky.”

“Okay,” Meg said with a sigh that sounded exasperated. “Let’s just say for one second, that it is possible this organization _is_ back, since everyone here seems to want them to be,” she said, leveling her hands a little in front of her, hat dangling from one, “So far only _one_ has actually shown up. And Axel’s made it clear: not a part of it, and no one else is back. And, outside of your own prejudice―” She quirked a brow at Riku. “―What evidence do you _actually_ have?”

“Did you miss the part where I said they’re sneaky?” Riku asked her also quirking a brow.

“I reiterate, evidence _not_ stemming from your prejudice.” She stated coolly looking under her lashes at him. “It’s circumstantial at best. It’s _just_ as reasonable to say, that even _if_ he’s wrong, it’s not knowingly or malicious. Especially since Santa said ‘She’ succeeded in bringing him back implying Santa knows who was responsible and has no problems with it, unless you want to call Santa’s honor into question, which is a whole kettle of fish I really don’t think _you_ want to start.” Meg smirked ever so slightly and shrugged. “Besides, I was under the impression that Heartless are like wild animals. Anyone with an agenda and the right sort of crazy could use them for their own nefarious deeds.” Meg shrugged again, and then noticed basically the entire room was gapping at her; except Mae who was smirking smugly at Riku. The witch blinked and folded her arms over her chest shrinking a little with another shrug.

“The defense rests.” Santa observed with a shrug and an amused chuckle.

“Fantastic!” Jack exploded applauding. “That was perfectly splendid! You seem to have found yourself quite the little lawyer Axel! Absolutely marvelous! Lawyers are such a terrifying lot!”

Meg blinked at him, utterly bewildered, her face red all the way to her ears. In her fluster all she could really think to do was to give a little bow and mutter. “Practice.”

Riku decided not to touch that comment, he had a pretty good guess _how_ she had gotten in all that practice, he cast Mae a brief look. “Fine. Point taken. We still need to figure out what’s going on here,” he reminded.

“Well I guess we’ll have to investigate some more!” Jack cheered.

“The problem definitely seems to be somewhere in Christmas Town, we should look around here,” Sora added.

“Can we at least check inside first? Where it’s warm?” Mae asked, rubbing her arms.

Riku rolled his eyes. “I think Santa would have noticed if something was amiss in his own house,” he pointed out turning on heel towards the door, “But if the cold is too much for you, then the delicate little flower can stay in here all cozy and safe.”

“Hey!” Mae scowled and stalked after him outside, it wasn’t long before they could hear muffled shouting on the other side of the door.

Meg sighed. “If this keeps up, Halloween Town might get a new ghost or two,” she muttered to herself.

“They’ll run out of steam eventually,” Axel assured her, “Fighting as often as they do has _got_ to be exhausting.”

The girl tucked her hat back over her hair as they exited scowling at the two standing in the snow screaming at each other. “Maybe, but I really don’t think that _I’ll_ survive how long that will take,” she said stooping a little scooping up snow and forming it into a ball. She blinked at it for a moment before looking up at the arguing two and then back down at her hands.

Axel looked at her curiously, “Meg, you aren’t _really_ gonna…”

Riku jumped as snow exploded against the back of his head, trickling down his collar only a moment after Mae had the same thing. He looked around but everyone looked equally confused, except Axel who was blinking down at Meg in surprise, again.

“Meg that was _cold_!” Mae called back without having to look.

“Sweet! We having a snowball fight out here?” Sora’s face brightened as he stooped down to gather some snow for himself.

Meg ducked as the snow ball flew over her head, however she didn’t calculate her hat, so it got knocked off. “Well that wasn’t the intent,” she said with a giggle, “but okay.” She sidestepped the one Riku threw at her, so it smacked Sora in the face. And then, everyone scattered. Kairi took cover behind one of the candy-cane striped pillars, giggling, Sora behind the other, but taking more of an offensive approach. Mae went to the tiny elf houses, climbing up on top and using one of the peaked roofs as cover, Meg mirrored her on the other side of the square. Axel chose a similar tactic, only staying on ground level and crouching behind the small houses themselves on the end closest to Santa’s workshop. Riku didn’t go too far, hopping up on the carousal ducking behind the animals for cover.

“What’s everyone doing?” Jack asked as he ducked out the door.

“I believe they’ve started a snowball fight,” Santa said with a chuckle from behind the skeleton man.

“A battle with snow? How delightful!” the Skeleton man cheered joining in. He didn’t take cover, just stood in the middle of the square, managing to dodge just about every snowball with his spindly form.

“It’s a hell of a lot friendlier than the pumpkin bombs your kids in Halloween Town throw around,” Axel remarked, attempting to toss a snowball before it turned into slush in his hand.

“Children? Oh, you must mean Lock, Shock and Barrel,” the skeleton man said, dodging the half-melted snowball.

“Doesn’t matter, snow is a lot nicer on the face than an exploding pumpkin,” Axel replied, ducking back down to dodge a snowball from Mae as Meg’s next snow ball was launched at the perfect time to nail Riku over the haunches of one of the carousel horses.

Mae burst out laughing at the Tin Man’s expense as he shook snow off his shoulders. Her eyes watered and her lungs begged for air, but the gasping breath she took of cold winter air was not kind of her throat. She crouched down behind the peaked roof and leaned into the wall as she waited to the fit to pass.

“Mae, you alright?” Kairi called across the square.

After few more barks and a taste like copper in her mouth, she could answer. “Fine, Glinda! Don’t worry!” she called back, more careful than she had before as she tugged a water bottle out of her belt.

Meg was standing on the edge of the roof, watching her sister’s roof intently, her hand up near her throat. Riku had stopped too, watching Meg. Mae would lie, Meg’s reactions wouldn’t. When the girl relaxed, he nodded and threw the snowball he’d been holding at Sora. Meg herself was knocked back into focus by a snowball to the shoulder, almost knocking her off the roof. She ducked back into cover.

Axel flinched when a weakly-thrown snowball _paff_ ed against his arm. He looked down at his arm as the snow slid off his sleeve, then down what he guessed was its line of travel, up to Kairi not too far away, giggling at him as she peeked around the pillar. He caught sight of another snowball in her hands and ducked out of the way when she lobbed it at him.

Meg had been pretty quiet since Mae’s coughing incident, to the point that Riku almost forgot she was there, and Jack did completely, shifting around to stand beneath her roof in hopes of getting a better angle on Mae. There was the sound of shifting snow, and suddenly a massive ball of snow fell on top of the Pumpkin king sheathing him in the powdery cold.

“Bombs away,” Meg’s soft voice cooed from above, her pitch lifted a little.

Jack shook free from the snow beaming up at her. “Why my dear Miss Witch you are just full of spectacular surprises aren’t you?” Meg shrugged and ducked away from the snow ball he tossed at her.

“You know, this is fun and all, but don’t we have some investigating to do?” Riku called from his carousel bunker.

“You’re just calling it quits because you chose a crap spot!” Mae accused popping her head up over the roof before ducking back down to dodge a snowball.

“He’s kind of right though guys,” Sora admitted, “We’re supposed to be solving a serious Heartless problem, and here we are having a snowball fight!” Sora could only imagine how this would have gone over with Donald.

“Sorry,” Meg said, coming out from her cover. _At least the tension’s been lifted a little._

“The team who plays together, works together,” Santa chuckled coming from the shelter of the porch.

Sora turned and grinned nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry Santa, we’ll get right on it.”

“Oh no, no, I think it did you all some good,” he said amused, “Where do you think you’ll start?”

Riku hopped over the back of one of the carousel creatures. “I don’t know, was there anywhere in particular that you would recommend?”

“Perhaps back in the Plaza, where Dr. Finkelstien’s puppet appeared?” Santa suggested.

“Good idea!” Sora agreed as he and the other members of the group began coming out from their snowball-fight bunkers, “Come on guys! Through that gate over there!” The Keyblade Master pointed to the tall, green doors at one end of the square.

Meg looked down at the ground, wrinkled her nose and hopped off, collapsing into the snow bank bellow with a _paff_.

“Meg?” Jack called walking up at the dent in the snow.

“I’m okay!”

Mae, facing a similar predicament with healing ribs, found a lamppost and slid down after tugging the cuffs of her sleeves down over the heels of her hands. “So, is there anything specific we’re looking for?” she asked, making her way over to her sister to help her out of the snowdrift.

“Heartless,” Axel answered bluntly, standing from his makeshift bunker.

“ _Besides_ that,” the elder twin rolled her eyes.

“It’s not really a precise science,” Riku answered brushing snow from himself, “It’s more intuition.”

“I’m beginning to think more and more that you were being _sarcastic_ earlier about these things coming easy,” Mae remarked.

“Amen to that,” Axel agreed, shaking his head in exasperation as the group came back together near the carousel.

“Things like finding Keyholes, yes. Finding Heartless and other forms of trouble, incredibly easy. Finding answers? Not so much,” Riku clarified with a shrug and a wry smile. Both Axel and Mae gave exasperated sighs, Mae’s shoulders slumping and Axel rubbing his temples.

“Well, we’re not getting any closer to answers just standing around, let’s get looking guys!” Sora encouraged, leading the scouting group towards the large green gate.

“Why are you two so bothered by it being uneasy?” Jack asked. “Earlier you were complaining about it being too easy!” He reminded with a laugh. “Besides, easy isn’t any fun!” Meg giggled thinly brushing snow from her hat and hair as she went.

“I did no such complaining,” Mae was quick to defend herself as they walked, holding her hands up, “That was all Axel’s griping.”

“ _Anyways_ ,” Sora stressed to try and get away from the topic before it sparked another heated argument, one hand now on the gate to push it open, “First stop on the Christmas Town Grand Tour Aside-from-the-workshop: Christmas Tree Plaza!”

It was a quaint little clearing, aptly named for the decorated evergreens lining the edges, it was also very empty. “Pretty,” Meg observed looking around, “Though everything seems _pretty_ intact.”

“They must have repaired the damage from our last visit,” Jack observed glancing around, “But let’s not be hasty friends, let us look closely!”

“Every mission I ever avoided…” Axel muttered to himself as the group dispersed.

They had been scouring the area for a good five minutes at least when Mae noticed something. On the snow embankment, under one of the fir trees, a fallen bulb ornament, or at least it used to be one. It was shattered now, which was also odd, considering the snow here was perfectly powdery, but then it came to her attention that…it had been _crushed_. “That’s one big footprint…”

They all collected around the impression. “How odd there’s only one,” Jack observed, easily seeing over the gathered teens.

“Maybe it has a reeeeally long stride,” Meg suggested squeezing between the firs in the direction the print was facing.

“Really long like, way over there?” Mae pointed to an indentation in the snow quite a ways off the beaten track, towards the snowcapped mountains.

“Well, it’s a lead,” Sora pointed out before climbing up, he looked back down at the group, “Let’s see where it takes us, guys.”

With the help of Axel and Jack on the ground, and Sora and Riku up on the high embankment, the group got to tracking the massive footprints one by one.

Meg paused a little looking around. “Anyone else noticed that it’s gotten darker?” she asked tipping her hat back. “ _Unnaturally_ so?”

“Probably means we’re getting closer,” Riku said, squinting into the snow-dotted gloom.

The witch chewed her lip, hugging herself. “I’ve got a _bad_ feeling about this.”

The wind picked up as they passed the final line of elf houses before the mountains sloped upward, threatening to steal Meg’s hat away. An echo of a roar filled the valley as two pinpricks of yellow light in the looming darkness rocketed up from behind one of the mountains and over, down in their direction.

The group steeled themselves for battle. “Oh tell me that isn’t…” Mae’s unfinished question was rhetorical, with only a slight amount of denial as the monster thundered its landing in front of them.

The Heartless was massive and covered in dark fur, each strand appearing to be smoking Darkness at the ends. It walked on a set of two _massive_ feet and its eyes were disproportionately tiny on its face, the yellow glow only able to be glimpsed through curtains of hair. The Heartless pounded on its chest like an angry gorilla and roared again, deafeningly loud now that it was so close. Meg yelped clamping her hands over her ears and almost dropping to the ground as she curled away from the sound.

“We’re fighting the _Yeti_?!” Mae exclaimed, covering her ears around the Keyblade in her hand, “ _Seriously_?!”

The huge Heartless’ chest swelled as if it were about to roar again, but it sent a strange tingling along Meg’s spine. Everyone dodged away from it as the Yeti leaned down and bellowed, releasing a stream of snow and ice.

“Electric-y-Thunder-Magic…Thing, it is I guess,” Meg muttered picking herself shakily up from the snow, glancing warily at her sister.

The Abominable Darkness stomped its feet as if in frustration over its attack being foiled, making the ground tremble. “I’m gonna take a stab in the dark and say that we should steer clear of its feet,” Axel observed dryly.

“I’d say that’s a good plan,” Sora agreed, moving away from his defensive stance in front of Kairi at the edge of the field now that the first attacks had passed.

Which would mean lots of dodging, so Meg slid out of Axel’s coat instantly throwing herself into a clumsy summersault. _At this rate we’re not gonna get anywhere,_ she thought regaining her balance. _We’re gonna be too busy keeping our feet. Keeping our…feet,_ she blinked, staring at the thing’s stomping feet. _It worked well enough last time..._ She stood, pulling up as much ice as she could and froze the ground beneath its feet.

“Woah!” Mae nearly lost her balance as the ground shook and the creature flailed and fell; she flashed a grin at her sister, “ _Slick move_ , Sis!”

“Pay attention!” was Axel’s disgruntled urging as he went by her to meet Sora, Riku and Jack who were already taking advantage of the Abominable Darkness’ prone state.

“Right, I’m coming!” Mae called back, flashing her sister another encouraging smile before charging off after the redhead to the Heartless, which was already beginning to swat at Sora and Riku with its similarly-colossal hands.

Meg puffed a sigh, happy that was actually successful. _Don’t get cocky,_ she scolded herself, shifting back a step she flipped her Keyblade over her hand.

After a few moments the thing slammed its paws down, bellowing out another blizzard and rising back to its feet, before proceeding to jump up and down in a tantrum. Riku caught Mae’s elbow, helping her keep her feet.

“Meg!” he called.

“I need a minute!” she yelped from her hands and knees in the snow.

“Bigger problems!” Kairi warned, pointing to the mountaintop, and the tumbling cloud of white quickly on its way.

“Avalanche! Fall back!” Sora yelled, hurrying to get out of the way, grabbing Kairi’s hand and headed for the elfin houses, Jack’s long spindly legs easily taking the lead.

“I say we let the sleet and snow burry the sucker and we get the Hell out of dodge!” Axel barked, not far behind them.

Meg didn’t have the time to get up out of the snow and get on top of the roof with the others so she ducked under the ledge covering her head as the snow roared past.

“Where are the twins and Riku?” Kairi panted before she was drowned out by another bellow almost knocking the three off the roof, Jack managing to simply bend like a reed to compensate, while Sora caught Kairi’s elbows before she fell. Sora peered down to see the giant Heartless crawling out of the snow.

Axel, who’d gotten a glimpse of Meg just a little too late to help, reached over the side of the roof he was on to help her up. “Got one of ‘em!”

“I don’t see Mae!” Kairi called worriedly, looking around.

          “Mae!?” Riku coughed, rolling over and starting to get to his feet, only to have his back hit a wall of snow. He shook his head slightly, trying to think about what exactly happened after he was hit in the tidal wave of snow.

Suddenly, there was the muted sound of movement nearby, then a distinct _shush_ ing of snow and then Mae was visible to him again. “Shh!” she hushed him, ears pinned to her cherry-chocolate hair, “Knowing our luck, it could have crazy ass hearing or something!”

He glared at her. “Right, sorry, forgive me for being concerned for your wellbeing. It’s not like it’s normal to get _killed_ by an avalanche or anything,” he hissed back, looking around to try to determine which way was up.

“Yeah, well _you_ _’re_ still here aren’t you?!” she seethed, tail thrashing behind her, “So now we’re down here trying not to get trampled by _Bigfoot_!” The two looked up when there was a roar above them, muffled by the powdery snow around them, followed by the impatient stomping of feet further off. Mae looked back down at Riku. “But I _might_ have a plan.”

“Do I even want to know?” Riku sighed scowling sidelong.

“You wanna just pop out of the snow for some scary-Yeti-whack-a-mole?” she arched an eyebrow at him, “Look, we’ve been avoiding its feet up to this point yeah? Well what if we can use our position under the snow to our advantage to take a stab at ‘em?” she began, “Get it from underneath and at least take out its feet so the others can get close enough to it. Meg just made this thing a living example of ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ right? So we keep under the snow, where the Heartless can’t see us, take out its feet from underneath, and then you, me, Sora and Axel can beat it into submission with Jack, Meg and Kairi watching our backs.”

He blinked at her, bewildered by the sheer lunacy of the plan. “It’s official, you have a death wish,” he stated flatly, “It’s only by some miracle we weren’t killed to begin with! Not to mention the stroke of luck that that thing _isn’t_ falling down here _itself_! And you want to _tunnel_ underneath it, weakening the little support it’s got, _and_ be under its feet!? How does that even register as a good plan in your head!?” He seethed softly.

Mae’s ears flicked back again as she matched his tone, “None of us can _fight_ in this powdery crap; we’d have to stick to the rooftops, and we have two, maybe _three_ ranged fighters!? I don’t know about you, but I’m not looking forward to sitting useless on the sidelines again!”

“So, you’d rather _die_ than be useless? Enlightening.” he hissed rolling his eyes.

Mae glared at him. “Ok, Meg’s _gotta_ be powering up for another icing-over spell-thing, right?” she asked, “And that, while making it slippery for the big guy, would make the area under, around him, whatever, a little more stable, right? I don’t need to be _directly_ underneath it to stab my Keyblade up into its foot! We wait where it’s safe until Meg casts the spell, then charge under, Keyblades blazing! Under the feet is its weak spot, I can feel it!”

Riku pinched the bridge of his nose; _In one ear and out the other_. “There’s no guarantee Meg _will_ cast ice again! She doesn’t know where we are and if they think we’re buried, freezing over the surface and making it _harder_ for us to get up seems like a really bad plan. And _clearly_ she has more common sense then you!”

“We have _Keyblades_! I’m willing to bet a layer of ice will _break_ for us!” Mae let out a careful, quiet sigh of exasperation, a small cloud in front of her face, “I’m trusting my gut on this one, and you can either trust me, or go tattle-tale, but I’m _going_!”

“Mae!” he hissed as she burrowed away. He sighed exasperated, and followed after. At least if he was there then he could pull her out when her cockamamie plan went south.

          “Sora, do you see Riku or Mae anywhere?” Kairi called, looking worriedly over the ledge of the roof.

Jack paused in his fire casting to peer around. “I certainly can’t seem to spot them.”

Axel slung a Chakram out at the Heartless, cloaked in fire but he could only will it to go as far as it needed. He was a ranged fighter, but this kind of distance was just outside his depth. “They’re arguing somewhere!” he answered for the Keyblade Master.

Said Keybearer turned to him after firing some Firaga rounds of his own. “But what if one of them is hurt and they can’t get back to us?” he asked.

Axel threw his second Chakram out and turned to Sora exasperatedly while he waited for his weapons to return. “If one of them needed the help, they’d have come back asking for it by now,” Axel turned back in time to catch his first Chakram, keeping his eye on the second, “I reiterate: They’re probably just arguing again.”

“Mae’s fine,” Meg chimed in scowling at her slightly trembling hand. Freezing that much ground that thickly took more MP then she had ever used on a single spell, so while the Ether had taken a bite out of it, she still had to wait to regain the rest. And all the loud roaring wasn’t helping to steady her either. “I’m not getting anything from her, except annoyance.”

“That twin-link-thing isn’t just physical stuff?!” Sora exclaimed.

“There’s a ‘twin-link-thing’?” Axel asked before once again throwing one of his Chakrams.

Meg blinked at them and began to confirm when a mental bell went off alerting her to the fact her MP had recovered. “Oh! Here we go!” she summoned her Keyblade, taking it in both hands and froze the ground again.

Mae had burrowed herself someplace out of harm’s way, but close by to get to the Abominable Darkness quickly, and planted herself while she waited for Meg to cast her Blizzard spell. “Glad you decided to join me,” she muttered as she heard Riku’s approach, keeping her eyes and ears open for tell of Meg’s spell. “There!” Mae noted a change in the snow above them that _had_ to be Meg’s ice. She turned to Riku, and whispered, “Go get its other foot or stay here, I’m gonna actually _do_ something this fight!”

“You could have done so _without_ risking being flattened,” he muttered shifting over to the shadow of the other foot and waited ‘til he saw Mae move and jabbed the sharp tip of his wing-themed blade into the arch of the Heartless’ foot at the same time Mae did.

There was a great yowling of pain above them, and the shadow of the Abominable Darkness wavered above them. What Mae hadn’t expected was for the force of breaking through the layer of ice to take away most of her momentum, and her Keyblade wasn’t exactly pointed like Riku’s was. As a result, Mae watched for a moment in horror as the Yeti’s shadow above her grew darker as the monster lost its balance on one foot, topping over to her side. “Shit!” Mae sprang to the opposite side of the beast before it crashed down through the ice and snow.

When Mae had landed beside him Riku instantly curled up over her protectively, he waited only a beat after the crash ended to get to his feet burrowing up out of the ice and snow. When he reached the surface, he turned to help Mae out.

          “There they are!” Kairi exclaimed, pointing to the two as Riku lifted Mae out of the drift, “That must have been them that attacked the feet!”

“Over here!” Sora called, one arm waving avidly while the other cupped around his mouth for amplification.

“Looks like you were right, she looks fine,” Axel commented to the younger twin beside him, shouldering one of his Chakrams, “That’s some twin-link-whatever you two have got.”

Meg smiled thinly. “It has its advantages,” she agreed before scowling at the unmoving behemoth, “Is it…over?” Her brows furrowed.

“That was…oddly quick,” Sora concurred hesitantly, eyeing the Heartless and the suspicious way it _didn’t_ fade back into Darkness and release its captive heart.

“Speak for yourself!” Mae put in as she and Riku approached the rooftop they all were on, the snow from the avalanche coming up to both Riku and Mae’s waists.

“He’s right Mae,” Meg said, “These things usually take more than that to go―” The girl was cut off by the Abominable Darkness growling, lifting its head to glare at them before disappearing into the snow.

“Looks like you taught it a _trick_ ,” Riku grumbled while Jack stooped to offer him and Mae a hand up.

“Shit they learn…” Mae breathed and scrambled the rest of the way up onto the roof with Riku, “How was I supposed to know heartless beings of Darkness could learn?!”

“Where is it now?” Kairi asked, looking around the field.

There was another low rumbling before the Abominable Darkness leapt up at the edge of the roof near Meg. The monster was quickly met with a face-full of spinning, fiery Chakram and it yowled as it stumbled back before disappearing down into the snow again. “I think it’s a good call to steer _clear_ of the edges!” Axel warned, and the small band all gathered at the center of the roof in compliance.

It got quiet for a moment, before a heavy blow was delivered to the underside of the ledge they stood on shaking the whole roof. Riku stumbled back, before dropping to a knee and shot Mae a look. Meg yelped and fell forward, summersaulting over the edge of the roof disappearing into the soft snow.

“Twin overboard!” Jack called out to the others as they regained their balance.

“Meg!” Mae cried, straining her voice probably more than she should, rushing to the edge, looking down to the Meg-shaped hole in the snow.

Everyone collected on the edge and as the watched the edges of the hole gave way and grew larger, melted to be specific. A moment later a soaking wet Meg crawled from the hole, shivering.

“Hello Meg, are you alright?” Jack called waving a boney hand.

She nodded. “Y-yeah, I-I th-think I m-may have j-just learned f-fire though.”

“That will definitely come in handy,” Axel remarked, reaching down to help her up.

The girl nodded slowly and took his hand. Somehow Jack managed to scrunch up his skeletal face, so his brow bones knitted together. “Why, Meg, you’re shaking!”

“Wet and cold don’t mix,” she said with a thin airy chuckle.

“I’d give you my coat again but…” Axel cast a weary glance to the snow-covered battlefield as he lifted her up onto the roof with them.

“I’ll m-manage,” she shivered, straightening, “What now?”

“I’m not sure whether to say some fire to the face worked or just made it worse,” Mae remarked, keeping her eyes on the snow, eager to get this done before Meg caught a cold.

“S-sorry,” Meg licked her cold lips nervously.

Riku shifted grounding his stance a little more. “Either it comes up or it doesn’t,” he said.

“And if it doesn’t?” Jack asked arching his brow bone.

“Fire en masse,” Axel answered, scowling at the notion of all the energy that’d take, even with Sora and Meg’s help, “it should take out the powder enough to keep it exposed like before.”

“I’ll do my best,” Meg said with a nod summoning her Keyblade again.

“Is that gonna be enough?” Riku asked suspiciously.

“We’ll make it enough,” Axel replied bluntly.

“Wait guys!” Sora interrupted, feeling a sudden surge of panic at Axel’s tone, “Shouldn’t we wait on that until we think it won’t come up anymore?”

Meg bit her lip. “I’m not gonna be able to c-cover that much, and didn’t you say that using too much fire is bad for you?” she asked.

Axel was surprised to a degree that she even remembered him mentioning it. “It did in the past,” he answered after recovering, “but that was to do a _lot_ more than melt some powdery snow.”

“Well it’s the only plan we got right now,” Riku said with a slight exasperated sigh, “And the more we talk about it the more time Fuzzy has to plot his next move.”

“We should probably split into smaller groups first,” Sora remarked, as there was another threatening rumble of a growl from under the snow, “We’re too vulnerable all in one place like this.”

“Sora’s right,” Mae agreed, “We’re sitting ducks.”

“Right. And we should probably split us fire-able people up to cover more area if it comes to that,” Sora added before calling out positions, “I’ll go with Kairi over to the roof over there, Meg, you and your sister go to the next roof over. That leaves Riku and Axel here on this roof.”

“And I shall assist the witchling!” Jack said before Sora could assign him somewhere, “Since she has only just learned an extra assistant would be most strategic.” Jack said gathering both twins into his spindly arms. “Off we go!” he cried easily leaping over to the roof Sora had assigned them.

Sora gave his childhood friend an apologetic look before he and Kairi went off in their own direction, leaving the ex-Nobody and Tin Man alone with the Abominable Darkness headed toward them.

“You’re gonna have to get used to me being on your team eventually,” Axel jabbed, readying his Chakrams with fire as the Yeti approached, “So it’s time to put on your big-boy pants and help me with this thing so we can get out of this damn snow!”

“There might be one slight problem,” Meg said squinting at the Heartless. “When I used fire before? I―it was like, a-a ring around me.” She looked up at the Skeleton. “It doesn’t have near enough range to reach the Heartless.”    

“Oh, don’t worry, that’s easily fixed.” Jack cheered. “Simply think more aggressively, extending it out like a shot, instead of a defensive ring.” Meg pursed her lips wrinkling her nose. Jack blinked at her. “It’s not the much different from how you release your ice,” he answered bewildered.

“S-see that’s a better explanation,” Meg chuckled thinly, rubbing futilely at her frosted arms.

Across the field, the Abominable Darkness had finally shown itself again, rearing up out of the snow for another face-full of fire. “I thought you said this thing learned!” Axel called back to the Tin Man as he used his second fire-cloaked Chakram in a scorching right-hook of sorts.

“Seriously? You’re _complaining_?” Riku yelled.

The Heartless bellowed and dropped back down, popping back up with a boulder sized snowball that it proceeded to throw at the offending fire wielder. It failed to hit him through his fire though, and before it could follow up a blast of fire came from the Skeleton and Witch. It swiveled to them and roared, frost forming around its mouth.

“That doesn’t look good,” Mae winced, face dropping. Just when it looked about ready to dive under the snow again, the Heartless’ head jarred forward, and it reeled around again to Sora and Kairi.

“That’s it!” Kairi exclaimed, “If each of us keeps firing at it before it has the chance to go after the other, we should be able to keep it above the snow!”

“Sounds good enough to me!” Axel replied and slung a flaming Chakram―and Riku his Keyblade―at the beast again.

“Until it picks up on this trick,” Riku muttered catching _Way to Dawn_ , shifting his eyes over to watch Meg and Jack take their shot at the monster.

“With luck it will be defeated before then!” Jack encouraged.

          Luck was on their side as it turned out, the Heartless didn’t seem to have any more tricks up its furry sleeve, and victory wasn’t much farther away. After one last blast of fire, the Abominable Darkness fell over backwards.

“You think it’s really done this time?” Axel panted.

Sora peered over the edge of his roof as the monster faded away. “Looks like it,” he answered, equally out of breath, but refused to jump down from the roof until the captive heart had long since drifted away.

“Well done team!” Jack said hopping down, sinking all the way to his waist. “We should return to Sandy and report right away!”

“We’ll have to get through the snow first.” Riku observed brows furrowing in concern as Meg sneezed.

          “Well, we made it back to the square in one piece.” Meg sighed before sneezing again, grumbling under her breath as she sniffed.

“Yes!” Mae agreed readily, tail twitching, “Now to Santa! And warmth!” She ordered marching toward the workshop.

“Right!” Meg agreed, “I’m starting to miss that coat. Hat too.” She cast her eyes up to the invisible brim, “Seventy percent of body heat, and all.”

“I won’t deny, the furry ears have kept the chill off ‘em,” Mae admitted, also looking up at the feline ears she couldn’t see near the top of her head, flicking them for emphasis, “but we gotta get you inside.”

Axel rolled his eyes. “Let’s get going.”

“Yeah!” Sora agreed, getting up from the snow and following after the feline twin, cheering, “More cookies!”

          “Oh Santa~!” Sora called as he was the first to duck inside, “We return victorious~!” Kairi giggled at his antics.

“Oh hello, you all look chilly,” Santa greeted.

“Avalanche,” Meg laughed with a sniffle, “You might have a bit of a mess to clean up sorry.”

“Oh, that’s quite alright, have a seat by the fire,” he indicated to the couches and the still-present tray of cookies.

“Is something else the matter?” Kairi asked, moving to sit on the couch beside Sora, who had already plopped himself down comfortably in from of the tray.

“Getting rid of the d― _stupid_ Yeti-Heartless should have taken care of the little-Heartless problem, right?” Mae censored herself awkwardly as she settled on the rug near the fire.

“Quite right Mae, I just thought that after all that work a rest would be in order,” Santa said purposefully tucking a blanket around Meg’s shoulders as she settled into one of the chairs, “So it was a Yeti Heartless?”

“Yes sir,” Meg said pulling the blanket tighter, as Mae scooted back so she was leaning up against the chair to one side of Meg’s legs. “It showed up in the northern part of the village, close to the mountains.”

“Hairy thing too,” Sora’s face contorted in disgust, “Massive feet, and these beady little yellow eyes you could _haaardly_ see under all that fringe.” Sora depicted this by curling his fingers into small circles and placing them over his eyes. “We took care of it though,” he reassured the childhood figure through a mouthful of cookie.

“As I knew you would,” Santa said, “I suppose you must be on your way soon.”

“Well not _so_ soon right?” Jack asked looking like a pleading child.

“No not right away, let them catch their breath and get dry first, of course. But soon. Other worlds are in need of their help.”

“As they always seem to,” Axel rolled his eyes, arms crossed over his chest with a smirk tugging at his lips as he leaned a hip against the side of the wingback chair Meg was in.

“It’s an unfortunate truth…” Santa nodded solemnly looking at each of their faces, especially the twins.

“That someone’s always going to want absolute power?” Meg offered, seeming to finish Santa’s thought.

“And everyone knows absolute power corrupts,” Mae added and snorted with a mutter, “Except for the bad guys apparently.”

Kairi sighed. “Where do they all keep coming from?” she asked woefully.

“Every world has its own brand of evil,” Axel answered, slightly uncomfortable with the topic considering his previous ‘allegiances’, “It’s only a matter of time before they get to wanting more.”

“Sad thing is,” Meg sighed closing her eyes, “Is the want for more isn’t unnatural, not really. Everyone wants more in some way or another. It’s when the want eclipses the conscience that’s the problem.”

Jack peered at her for a moment. “Aha! I’ve just put my finger on it, you rather remind me of Sally!”

Meg blinked up at him a little taken aback by the sudden comment. “She is a bit like Sally, isn’t she?” Santa chuckled.

“How _is_ Sally, Jack?” Sora asked the skeleton man, “We didn’t really get to see her this trip!”

“Oh she’s doing quite well!” the skeleton stood, “In fact I should be getting back to her! Sandy Claws, do you mind if I take back some of these for Sally? I’m sure she’ll love them!” He said holding up the gingerbread man he had decapitated.

“Not at all Jack.”

Riku stepped to one side both for Jack, who began to collect a small supply of cookies, and Mrs. Claus, who leaned over Meg to pass her a steaming mug of tea. “As soon as Meg dries off we should probably get going too.”

"Sorry,” Meg muttered into her mug before taking a sip and instantly leaned back blinking at it then up at the Claus’s. “Like…Mom’s?”

“No way!” Mae twisted around to stand on her knees facing her sister, careful not to jostle the mug in her sister’s trembling hands. She sniffed a couple times before her eyes flew wide open. “How the―?!”

“Well, seems I did manage to make it like Christine!” Mrs. Claus beamed, clearly quite pleased with herself. “One mustn’t argue with results!” Kairi giggled as Mae continued to sputter in awe, brushing some of Sora’s sprayed crumbs off her dress into her palm.

Meg nodded vaguely, “Thank you.” She muttered before taking another sip before setting it on her knee and ruffling her damp hair with one hand while Mae turned around and _thump_ ed back down to the rug.

“It was nice to finally meet you Santa, Mrs. Claus,” Kairi smiled and nodded to each of them, cradling the handful of crumbs in her lap.

“Seconded,” Mae put in as she stood from the rug, tail swishing behind her legs contentedly.

“Pleasure is all ours my dears!” Mrs. Claus beamed, patting Santa’s arm as she bustled off.

          Several minutes passed with Meg alternating between drinking her tea and ruffling her hair before she sighed. “I think, I’m dry enough, we can go.” She said standing slowly as she balanced the mug and blanket and avoided bumping her half dozing sister.

“Well then if you’re sure,” Santa said examining her as she set the mug down on the coffee table.

“Always glad to be of service!” Sora told the childhood figure, grabbing a couple cookies for the road, “And thanks for the cookies!”

Mae roused as Meg stepped further from her and dropped into a little curtsey. “Thank you so much for your hospitality, Sir.”

“You are all very welcome, I’m pleased you were here to help,” he said as the small band finished getting to their feet and began to move out, “Axel, may I have a brief word with you?”

The group paused, and Axel arched an eyebrow at Santa before turning back inside with a shrug; the others continued outside. “I’m not on the Naughty List, am I?” he joked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Not since you were Lea,” Santa chuckled, his eyes softening a little as he peered up the tall young man who chuckled at the comment. “I felt I ought to let you know that this third life, it is no mistake.” The short plump man smiled, “You could even say it is a reward.”

“A real extra life, is what? A reward after what _I’ve_ done?” he asked, shaking his head, “Forgive me for not seeing it.”

Santa hummed. “Sometimes, the wrong thing is done for the right reason.”

There was the sound of the door opening and closing again and Meg stuck her head in. “Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt.”

“That’s alright my dear, what is it?” Santa asked, concern etching his face as Meg sneezed again.

The girl waved it off. “Well, we forgot we parked in Halloween Town, so we’ll have to go all the way back,” she said motioning vaguely over her shoulder, “The others have started out already.”

“And you got stuck with babysitting me?” the redhead asked, eyebrow raised.

“I volunteered,” she corrected softly.

Now both eyebrows were up in both surprise and slight disbelief. “Well alright, I’ll be right out,” he told her, the girl nodded and went back out. Axel turned back to Santa, “You done with me Saint Nick?”

“Dear little thing, doesn’t have an unkind bone in her body,” the man observed softly. “Oh yes,” he said and ducked down behind his chair. “I believe these are yours,” he said passing Axel his coat, neatly folded with Meg’s hat sitting on top.

Axel accepted them from the man, deciding this really shouldn’t be surprising, considering who this was. “I’m sure she’ll be grateful for these back,” he commented, raising them a little in acknowledgment, “Thanks again.”

“It was my pleasure,” he said, walking with the redhead to the door where the little witch stood waiting. “Take care of yourselves, and each other. Don’t forget what I said, Axel,” he said as Axel stuck the hat on Meg’s head, and then held the jacket open for her to slide her tiny arms into. Meg’s brows furrowed a little and her jaw tightened ever so slightly to keep from asking.

“Trust me, third life? I’m not dumb enough to see that isn’t a gift,” he commented, and turned to leave with Meg, “Come on Meg, let’s get out of this snowdrift.”

Meg blinked up at him utterly confused and a little panicked. Third life? What did that mean? “Axel?”

“Nothing, we’ve gotta catch up to the others.”

Santa watched as the little brunette scrambled after the redhead. He sighed a little as a presence behind him came to his attention. “You may have gotten more then you bargained for with that one,” He turned to look at the darkly dressed individual, “my old friend.”

“Perhaps.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE NOT DEAD! WE DIDN'T ABANDON YOU! New year just hasn't been too kind to us...This new semester has hit Hibiscus like a freight train and about the same time that happened Simply's laptop decided it was done and the new one has been problematic on top of the fact we did NOT anticipate how much polishing some of these chapters would need.....
> 
> Yikes.
> 
> SO in light of that! We're tweaking our schedule to every other month to allow us more time to make these chapters all shiny pretty for you and NOT implode from the inescapable crushing weight of life. SO next chapter will be up in May! Sorry for the wait!


	7. Twilight Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twilight Town means a lot of things to a lot of people in this little troupe, and that goes likewise for the people there.

          “Wow,” Meg breathed as the gang stepped into to glaring light of a setting sun. She turned at the sound of the chiming of bells from a clock tower she could see not too far in the distance. “This is beautiful.”

“Yeah, Twilight Town tends to be that way,” Axel commented as he followed her out, but Meg could tell his heart wasn’t in the statement.

“Yeah! Let’s go see how Hayner, Pence, and Olette are doing!” Sora bounded out of the Gummi ship.

“Oh~ I haven’t seen them in ages!” Kairi cooed as she followed at his heels.

“Geez, is this place Radiant Garden Mark II or something?” Mae asked, watching the two islanders hurry around the corner, “‘Home away from home base’ as it were?”

“No,” Riku said slowly as he followed his friends. “Sora’s this way with everyone and, this is one of the few worlds Kairi’s been before. Thanks to _someone_ ,” he shot a glare over his shoulder at Axel.

“You just can’t get over the fact I got your little Princess off that island, can you?” Axel shot back.

“As a hostage!” Riku snapped back.

“It got you three back together didn’t it?” Axel pointed out, “Dragged _you_ out of hiding!”

Riku growled. “Wasn’t me you wanted to drag out though was it?” Axel glared darkly at the tin-haired boy. The younger man glared back, with perhaps just the slightest hint of a smirk before he turned around and continued down the path Sora and Kairi had taken.

Mae held her hands up, “Geez! Forget I asked!”

Meg held back, staying close to Axel, “You okay?” She asked quietly.

“Fine,” Axel snapped, and walked off in a different direction.

The girl made a few stammering, uncertain noises. “Where are you going?”

“Don’t worry!” he called back without stopping, “None of them want to see me anyway!”

“That’s not…” Meg trailed off, chewing her lip, looking between him and the others. Mae had powerwalked to get ahead of Riku had disappeared around the corner already. Disappearing on Mae wasn’t a fantastic idea, but it was better than trying to talk her into going alone, and she’d much rather go alone.

          The streets were familiar, painfully so, and Axel found it odd that of all the places he chose to seek solace was probably also the most painful. He gave the Ice Cream shop a wide birth, mostly not to tempt himself to make things worse, and made his way up Station Heights. He had to pause when the street opened up to the plaza, looking up at the Tower jutting up from the Train Station, steady and solemn as it had ever been, before heading up.

It was strange climbing these familiar stairs, but with no real expectation for when he got to the top. No ice cream, no Roxas to wait for, or waiting for _him_ , no mundane day of work to relay, just the view. The setting sun was near blinding when he reached the top, at such a height no buildings could block the view. He didn’t remember it being this bright, but maybe that’s because he’d never really looked at it, he’d always had Roxas to talk to, or his ice cream to keep from melting, and it had just been so long.

He kicked at abandoned popsicle sticks, no doubt from the friends Roxas thought he had here. He kicked one stick that teetered on the ledge over. “Dumb kids,” he scoffed, “We at least threw ours away.”

          It had been the popsicle sticks falling from the sun-stained sky that had given her the indication of where he was. It took her a while to find the stairs up, and then more time to get up them, but when she made it to the top and found him, she instantly regretted following him. His slightly hunched shoulders, with his hands in his pockets, as he stood scowling out over the landscape were that of someone who was lost in unhappy thoughts. “You were lying,” she said softly before her feet had the chance to turn back, “When you said you were fine, huh?”

Axel vaguely noted her words, but didn’t turn. “Your sister’s gonna flip,” he muttered.

She bit her lip, “Do you want me to leave?” She didn’t want to, she wouldn’t think it of him, but something about him being upset on a tall building worried her.

Axel didn’t answer, only sat down on the familiar ledge, staring out at the cityscape without turning to her.

She continued to chew her lip and fell back a step, but the nagging in her chest once again crawled up through her throat and out her mouth. “I’m worried,” she blurted, “A-about you. I-I mean Riku was kinda harsh, I didn’t understand it but―I mean―I just―” she stammered, wringing her partly gloved hands. _Good grief, please put this moron out of her stupid misery!_ her internal voice grumbled.

Axel sighed. “Sit,” he caved, finally turning his head in her direction, if only slightly.

Slowly the girl walked up and nervously perched on the edge of the clock tower, hesitating for a moment before swinging her legs off the edge. She blinked out over the silhouetted town. “Wow.”

Axel nodded. “It really is beautiful,” he commented, looking out at the town, “And it’s like this all the time, stuck in twilight. There are only a few worlds out there that are suspended at one time of day like this, Halloween and Christmas Town actually are like that. The World―” He paused. “―The world that I’m _from_ , it’s eternally night there, but that’s a special case I guess. Twilight Town though…There’s a reason we always came here to get away from it all.”

“We?” Meg asked slowly.

“Roxas,” the name was surprisingly difficult to say, like it had rusted in his jaw from disuse “My best friend. Also, Sora’s Nobody,” he chuckled, almost bitterly, “It’s a safe bet to guess _that_ ended.”

“You said, a Nobody is the shell left behind when a person is killed? By a Heartless,” she said slowly closing her eyes as she thought. “So, I guess that means they’re a part of the first person in a way? But Sora is fine so,” she pressed her fingertips together. “Sora and Roxas are…” Her eyes widened and she clamped her hands over her mouth.

Axel shifted uncomfortably. “I think you’ve got the idea,” he commented, “But…before that, we worked together, we were friends―Roxas and I, that is―and we’d meet up right here after missions, eat ice cream, have a few laughs.” He gave another chuckle, this one with a little more heart. “Kid was different than most other Nobodies, didn’t remember being his Other at all, so he asked me dumb, _difficult_ questions all the damn time,” he shook his head, “Have you ever tried explaining laughter? Friendship? To someone who doesn’t have a _clue_ what the emotions they stem from are?” He sighed. “I won’t lie to you, when me and Sora first met―or at least the first time _he_ remembers―I was trying to get Roxas back, that was all that mattered to me then. I didn’t _care_ about the worlds that needed him, about his friends; Roxas was _my_ best friend, the closest thing to having a heart again, I wasn’t about to let that go.

But you know Sora, he grows on ya. And…eventually, I was giving my life up for the kid, for Roxas really, not sure if it reached him, or how much of the Blondie was left in there to start with, but I did it for him.” He looked over at her fully, green eyes not doing a very good job of hiding vulnerability. It wasn’t the first time he’d told this story, maybe not with the dying aspect, but it didn’t change that it never got any easier.

Meg hadn’t moved her hands from her mouth, tears dripping from her lashes onto her hands. He had one person, just the one. Not only had they been taken, but then reincarnated in another person, a constant poke at a wound that had clearly not completely healed. She could only half imagine what _half_ of that felt like. She convulsed a little curling up a little more, closing her eyes, the tears dripping a little faster and the soft sobs she had been trying to keep silent slipped out.

The tears surprised him. “Woah! Meg, it’s―it’s ok!” he attempted to sooth the younger twin, scooting closer to her, one hand on her back, one trying to wipe at her tears around her hands, “Geez it’s not―it’s not _that_ bad…”

“Why’d you join us?” she choked, trying to scrub her tears away and attempting to get them under control, for his sake, “Riku’s constant jeering, being around Sora…” She looked up at him, blue-brown eyes glassy, cheeks rosy and shiny from the tears. “I wouldn’t be able to stay as calm as you do.”

“Please,” Axel scoffed, sitting up again, “Riku _thinks_ he bothers me, I’ve dealt with a hell of a lot worse.” He paused, growing somber again, “Sora…that get’s difficult sometimes. Every so often I’ll see _him_ , and that’s rough, but it’s brief most of the time, and Sora’s always bouncing around so much he distracts _me_ from it pretty damn fast.” Axel shifted awkwardly again. “Plus, you know, Sora likes me, probably feels a little indebted considering I died again to save his ass.” He cracked a half-grin at her, “Besides, with how often I manage to be around when you get yourself in trouble, I think it’d be hazardous to your wellbeing if I left.”

Meg looked down again, pressing her hands together. “I’m sorry; I really don’t mean to be a bother.”

“Meg it was a joke,” he reassured her, moving her chocolate hair out of her face in hopes of reaching her eyes, “I know you’re doing everything you can. You’re still new, you’re allowed.”

She looked over at him sideways. “I’m really not joking when I say I’m pathetic,” she told him eyebrows knitting together in worry.

“Meg, if Magic like you pull off at your level were easy, _Mae_ would be doing it,” Axel told her, “And she’d probably have killed us all by now.”

“I guess,” she said slowly, pursing her lips a little, “I honestly wouldn’t know.”

“You’ll get better, you’re just beginning,” he encouraged, “who knows, you keep excelling at that Blizzard Magic like you have been, and one day you could kick _my_ ass.”

“That will be a cold day in Hell,” she said softly, one corner of her mouth turning up ever so slightly.

“If anyone was going to freeze Hell over, you could,” he told her, smiling a bit himself as he saw hers, “Got it memorized?”

“Why do you do that?” she asked, continuing on her streak of uncharacteristically bold questions, even surprising herself a little.

The question surprised him too, even more so that he didn’t have an answer right away. He gave a slight chuckle as the hazy memory from another life came to him. “It’s uh, a habit that carried over from my first life,” he explained, bowing his head, “When I―he, was a kid, we, I guess, wanted to live forever. Even if just in the memories of others. Guess I got a little more than he bargained for on that one, life three and all.”

She chuckled thinly. “Well I hope it’s your last,” she said, then instantly squeezed her eyes shut in a grimace, “That sounded bad, I mean that I hope you don’t have to keep coming back to life. Wait, that sounded worse…” she groaned pressing her hands to her flushed face a little, “I mean, dying and coming back can’t be pleasant―I mean with all the people you’ve lost, or will lose along the way aside, I can’t imagine it’s physically pleasant.”

“Well, dying is a bit of a bitch,” he remarked, smirking at her, “but I get what you mean. And thank you.”

She chuckled nervously. “You’re welcome…” she trailed off. “Oh! I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving!” she realized, standing abruptly causing her to teeter a little, but landed on the right side of the wall. “We, should probably be getting back,” she told him and started in that direction before stopping and turning back to him, “I−I know how hard it is to lose someone you care about, and I’m no Roxas, as I said I’m pretty much more trouble then I’m worth, but, um, I’d like to be friends, i−if you want.” She bit her lip, _Seriously? How old are you?_

Axel stood as well, looking down at her. “I’m pretty sure we were already,” he commented, cracking another half-grin at her, “because I sure as Hell didn’t just spill my guts to _just_ an acquaintance.”

Meg positively beamed, before her face fell back into her normal face which in contrast always seemed a bit worried or stressed. “Right, panicking sister. That causes destruction.”

“Yes it does, we should get going.”

Meg looked up at him sheepishly. “I have no idea where we’re going. I just…followed you.” She bit her lip, rolling onto the outsides of her feet, fingers playing a mild tempo against themselves.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea where to start.”

          They went back to the Tram Common, towards what Axel called the ‘Usual Spot’. “I think that’s them in there,” Meg said pointing to one of the shops and heading over.

Axel looked over to where she pointed. “Should’ve figured…” he muttered, walking with Meg toward the Ice Cream Shop, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets, “Geez, this place brings back memories.” He reached for the door handle, pulling it open for the younger twin, “Knew the owner… _pretty_ well…”

“Seriously Pence, you’re gonna eat yourself into a sugar coma.” The woman behind the counter sighed. She appeared to be older than all of them, except for Axel, with long muddy brown hair clipped partly back from her face, a worn off-white apron over her clothes as she dried sundae glasses, scowling at a boy sitting at the counter.

“I can’t help it if you make the best ice cream in town!” he whined.

The woman stopped to look at him, putting a hand on her hip and arching a brow. “I bought it premade from some manufacturer long ago and far away. So if you’re trying to butter me up for free ice-cream: you’re failing, rather miserably I might add.”

She looked the same as he remembered her, the piece of his past he was as grateful for as much as he regretted. “Still slaving away here huh?” Axel asked, loud enough to catch the shop keep’s attention. He smiled warmly at her when she looked up at him. “Hey Creamery.”

_Crash_

The glass that had been in her hands met its end by dropping to the floor as her hands flew to her mouth eyes wide in shock when she saw him. “Hope!?” Pretty much every boy in the shop yelped as she staggered, barely managing to catch herself on a counter and fend off the swoon.

Axel was quick to cross the room, glass crunching under his boots as he came around the counter to her side. “Geez, I know I―” Axel paused; thinking on what he was about to say as he steadied her, “―No, never mind you are completely entitled to this.”

She stared, opened her mouth, closed it, then shook her head. “Good grief, ghosts don’t _exist_ Red! They sure aren’t all…solid and warm and _breathing_!” she told him, a mixture of breathless shock and good natured exasperation.

“That’s because I’m not,” he answered with a smile, “I’m…well it’s complicated, but look.” He took the hand she had the least amount of weight on, supporting her with an arm around her waist, the other pressing her hand to his chest. Meg stood frozen in the door, taken aback; she hadn’t seen Axel react like this to _anyone_. He wasn’t kidding when he said he knew her pretty well. **_Very_** _well’s more like it._

“You _know_ him?!” Olette spoke up scowling, having already recognized the man.

“Hope that’s the guy that we were telling you about two years ago! The jerk that−”

“ _Soosh_! All of you!” Hope ordered pointing at them with her free hand. They fell into silence and she turned her attention back to Axel, perfectly calm as he held her hand against his chest. When she noticed the heartbeat Meg knew she felt, her hazel eyes widened. “Is…is that _real_?” she asked blinking up at him slack jawed.

Axel could help but beam at her reaction, “Real as I live and breathe.”

She arched a brow at him. “Yeah well last time I time I saw you, a _year_ ago, you _weren’t_ gonna be living and breathin’ much longer!” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but I am now,” he reminded her, gripping her hand over his heart, “And _really_ living this time.” As the two of them looked at one another, like they had so many times before, he could see now just how much he owed her, more than just a stop in to say hello and telling her the good news, he’d taken too much from her for that to be all he owed, but there was only one thing he could think of. Axel leaned down, capturing Hopes lips with his with a kiss that wasn’t _near_ what she truly deserved, but it was a start on repaying what he owed.

If anyone had noticed, it would have been a little comical, both Hope and Meg’s expressions changed from a contented little smile to wide eyed shock at the exact same time on opposite sides of the room. Only difference was Meg could lift her hands to her mouth, while Hopes free hand kinda hovered in the air with nowhere to go.

“I…” Hope started to say when Axel pulled away. “Am…not really sure what to do with that,” she chuckled airily.

“What the heck _was_ that!?” Hayner demanded almost half way over the counter.

“Um, a kiss?” Meg offered recovering faster than Hope from to shock, settling into a small smile.

“And goodness knows I owe her more than that,” Axel added with a chuckle of his own.

“Wait, Hope, he’s _that_ guy?!” Olette exclaimed.

“Why do I feel this just got more awkward than it already was?” Mae muttered to Sora beside her, who nodded, still a bit dumbfounded.

“I’m gonna stop you, sister,” Hope said. “Actually gonna stop the awkward before it begins. My name’s Hope, yes, I knew Red―Axel―pre-death. And that’s all you need to know about it. Now, I’m gonna return your attention to what you were talking about earlier,” Hope said, stepping back away from Axel to pull out two of the ice cream bars everyone was eating, giving one to Axel and holding one out to Meg, coaxing the witch up to the counter.

Axel accepted his with a melancholy smile, then tipped it in her direction, “Can always count on you for the goods, Creamery.”

She smiled. “There’s a reason this little pack of vultures come bother me all the time,” she scowled at the three local kids, with a hint of a smile.

“That and Olette’s family discount!” Pence said swiveling around. “I’m Pence,” he said holding out a hand to Meg.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Meg.” Meg returned, taking his hand has she hopped up onto a stool.

“Hayner,” the blond grumbled finally tearing his glare away from Axel to give it to Meg for a minute before blinking. “Whoa, you two are twins…” he said looking between Meg and Mae.

“Just noticed that did you?” Mae asked with smug sarcasm.

“And I’m Olette,” the fifth brunette with a slight laugh, “Hope’s _my_ sister.”

“You have a _sister_?” Axel asked the shopkeeper, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to wrap his head around the fact.

Hope shrugged. “You always came slinking around when I was closing, not during the day when they were around,” she reminded as she continued drying glasses. She paused again tipping her head to one side. “Huh, creepy guy in a black coat, who only comes lurking around near dark,” she looked at him, “In hindsight that seems very unsafe.”

“As I recall it was _you_ who called me out, I was trying to _avoid_ the place,” he defended.

She looked at him putting one hand on her hip and quirking a brow. “And a marvelous job you did of that too, Red, strolling _right_ in the front door. Masterful.”

Axel sputtered, which was by no means a common occurrence. “That was―!” he cut himself off, deciding he’d been open about his history enough for one day, “I didn’t have my head on straight at the time.”

Hope’s eyes softened but she kept the little smirk. “I know.” With those two words Meg realized that as open as Axel had been with her, Hope _knew_ him. “So I’m taking the opportunity to harass you _now_ , since you’re clearly doing better,” she said hopping up onto her stool. Axel rolled his eyes and ate his ice-cream bar.

“Oh! Sora! That’s right!” Olette changed the subject, ignoring her sister’s annoyed eye roll and quiet muttering of ‘this is what I was trying to _say’_ , “It’s good that you’re here! There’s been some weird stuff going on around town.”

“Really?” the Keybearer asked, “What kind of weird stuff?”

“Things like people seeing weird shadows when there isn’t anything to cast it, and some people have even gone missing,” Pence piped up, licking the last of the blue from his popsicle stick. “Hope’s probably heard more.”

“People haven’t gone missing, just scared into hiding,” Hope corrected in mild exasperation, “Which isn’t surprising considering most incidents are up at the _station_.” She made a vague gesture and shivered.

Hayner nodded. “It’s been closed for the past several days, but no one’s saying anything.”

“Sounds like the first place to investigate,” Kairi suggested.

“You bet,” Sora nodded to her before turning back to the others, “We’ll go take a look, maybe take care of whatever’s lurking there.”

“Well it’s all closed up, so someone should go with you to make sure you can make it past the guards there,” Hayner said.

“Well they’re not gonna take our word for it,” Pence observed, “Apparently we’re troublemakers.”

Hope snorted. “Gee, wonder why that is,” she rolled her eyes, “I’ll go and be the responsible adult, as usual.”

“Wow, you conquer your petrifying fear of trains while I was away?” Axel asked, only partly smug.

“Oh _hell_ no. They’re still evil, demonic beasts of steel and steam that will devourer your soul.” She stated, raising both brows as she stood. “But I’m just there to smooth things over with the natives, and besides, the beasts of Hell will be caged.”

Meg couldn’t help but giggle. “I’m afraid of a lot of things, but, I must admit, nothing quite that…passionately.”

“Ironic, considering this whole town _runs_ on trains,” Riku observed.

Axel snorted. “You haven’t seen her when a tram goes by the shop,” he remarked.

“I have the timing down to an art.” She pointed out with a proud smile. “Speaking of which,” she glanced at the clock above the door. “We need to go now or wait another thirty minutes.”

Meg hopped off her stool. “Alright then, guess we should get going.” She said, joining Hope on the march to the door as she came around the counter.

“We’ll be back soon!” Sora waved to the group of Twilight Town teens on his way out the door.

“We’ll be fine!” Kairi reassured them as she followed.

Meg followed Hope, honestly intrigued by this woman who had gotten such a strong emotional reaction from Axel. He managed to stay pretty neutral, smug or sarcastic more often than not, occasionally spiking in surprise or irritation. She’d seen a touch or two of some sorrow and guilt when he told her his past here, but, well, he’d _kissed_ Hope. “So where’s the station?” Meg asked.

“See the tower?” Hope asked, “It’s right under there.”

Meg stared at the tower then laughed thinly turning back to Axel. “Back to where we started huh?”

“Did you not notice it on your way up?” Axel asked, a short red eyebrow raised.

She flushed a little. “I was preoccupied trying to deduce where you went.”

Hope stopped and looked at him intently. “So, you went back to the clock tower, huh? You really are doing better,” she observed softly. Meg faltered for a second with a quick glance between them before bowing out. She didn’t have a place in this.

“Not really,” he answered much too simply, stopping with her while Meg and the others went ahead, “I actually went back because it got worse. I hadn’t faced it since I died. I thought dying would have been it, so when I came back…” He kicked idly at a rock sitting on the cobblestone. “I _wanted_ to come back and see you Hope,” he muttered, “But I couldn’t come back _here_ yet. It took joining this pack of nut jobs to even get me close.”

Hope looked at the group ahead of them, particularly the teal-clad brunette. “Nuts, or just a nut named Meg?” she asked quirking a brow at him tipping her head to one side with a smile. “You made a new friend. That’s huge for you, _Red_.”

Axel scoffed a laugh. “I guess I have,” he agreed without looking at her, he shook his head.

“So, what made you travel with them?” she asked, starting to walk again.

“Well, Sora’s near-impossible to say no too, especially the way I left him before,” Axel mused, keeping pace beside her, “But Meg had this habit of running into me when she was in need of saving―both times completely by chance and on separate worlds besides. I don’t understand how it keeps happening, but I guess it just feels like…if something happens to her, and I’m not there, it’d be my fault. And I can’t take much more guilt on my conscience.” Axel kicked the rock again as they approached where it had landed.

There was a thin chuckle from Hope. “Maybe, instead, she’ll help _get rid_ of some of that guilt,” she offered.

“Hope, didn’t you say there should be people here?” Riku called back as they caught up to the others.

The area was silent as everyone looked around for the guards; Meg shifted. “I have a bad feeling about this…again.” she muttered. “Maybe they’re inside?” Mae offered, moving cautiously up the steps to the doors.

Sora approached the windows framing the doors, cupping his hands around his eyes as he peered in, “Doesn’t look that way.”

“Lunch break?” Kairi offered hopefully.

“We’ll only get answers if we go inside,” Axel said, pressing the glass door open.

Hope stayed towards the back with Meg as the party entered the silent station, footsteps echoing as they walked up the steps to the platform where a single train sat. Hope flinched back further and jumped sky high when Sora called out for any of the station staff. Meg grabbed the shop keeper’s elbow to help stabilize her before looking around.

Her eyes locked on the train. There was something off about it, something that reminded her of those predators that looked like rocks until they―her eyes widened and she grabbed Hope’s arm with both hands, flinging them both out of the way of the fire ball that had come from the train.

The train shifted from orange to a dark blue, with sulky yellow eyes and the front fender splitting open into a mouth glowing with flame. The Heartless bounced up and down, stamping its metal wheels against the track before disappearing and reappearing on a track further away from them.

“ _That’s_ what I was afraid of!” Axel cursed as the crew assembled summoned their weapons, “Hope! Get into the ticket box! You should be safe there!”

“See!” said civilian yelped, coughing a little as the Heartless began pumping out the thick black smoke, “I told you they were evil!”

Meg picked herself up off the ground, wincing and hoping the bruising she’d given herself wouldn’t affect Mae too much as she helped Hope to her feet. “This one certainly is,” she wheezed in agreement, herding her towards where Axel had suggested.

The Heartless made a sound between a train whistle and a bestial screech, causing both Hope and Meg to clamp their hands over their ears as the Doom Express unleashed a rain of fire.

“Well at least I can use Blizzard. That’s a _little_ more in my comfort zone,” Meg muttered to herself sending little pulses of ice through her Keyblade as she fended off the rain of fiery hail that was flung far enough from its smoke stack to reach them.

“If we get close enough, it won’t be able to hit us with that!” Sora called, “Kairi, get inside the ticket booth with Hope, you should be able to work your Cure Magic from in there.”

Meg motioned for the Princess to come her way as she stood halfway between the occupied platform and the booth.

“You guys gonna be okay against that thing?” Hope asked as Kairi hurried to join her.

Meg looked over at her. “I―I guess? We haven’t failed yet?”

The engine roared again, gaining Meg’s attention as it rained more fire down on them all. “Don’t worry Hope,” Kairi reassured the shop keep, “Like Sora said, if any of them get hurt, I can cast my Cure Magic on them from in here.” The Princess took a wary glance out the ticket window at the fight. She felt useless hiding out with Hope who really was, well, useless. Sora’s concern to keep their field medic safe was justified, but she couldn’t help wishing he wouldn’t shield her so completely.

The Keybearer, meanwhile, was charging off toward the Doom Express, and after he’d dodged one of the falling balls of fire and jumped a track he looked over and noticed Mae had come up beside him. “Figured you could use a hand,” she commented before the two diverged to dodge another fireball.

“But Mae, the smoke!” he called when they came together again, “What about your throat!?”

“My throat will be _fine_!” the twin pressed with a quick roll of her eyes.

“Not!” Riku snapped from Sora’s other side before sprinting ahead and vaulting to a track further into the station.

Meg held back, tapping her fingers rhythmically against her Keyblade. She could feel her throat getting scratchier and her lungs wheezy. Which meant Mae was lying, as usual. She sighed and flicked her Keyblade to the side, muttering under her breath, irritated. The smoke turned to snow, disgusting black snow, but at least it wasn’t going to be clogging up lungs or stinging anyone’s eyes.

“Nifty trick,” Axel commented, a short red eyebrow raised at her, “Blizzard Magic doesn’t normally work like that.”

By the time Sora and Mae got close, the Heartless was bucking and rearing on the tracks, screeching something that _barely_ sounded like a train whistle anymore, before reversing quickly into the tunnel, vanishing completely. Sora and Mae came to an abrupt halt.

“Where’d it go?!” Mae exclaimed while she and Sora looked around wildly; sure enough, the Heartless was roaring back into the station on another set of tracks, closer to where Riku was.

The tin-haired teen backed up a pace to dodge a fire ball from the front of the train. It screeched again as an impressive amount of ice slammed against it, almost knocking it from the tracks. Riku slung _Way to Dawn_ out to hit the Heartless; it screeched again and backed into the tunnels again.

“Note to self, it doesn’t like that,” Axel mused as he caught up; looking around for the next place it’d appear.

“And you _like_ getting blasted with ice?” Riku asked snippily.

The Heartless popped back out at the front track, returning to raining fire down on them. Apparently the Doom Express was trying to extract some sort of vengeance on the girl.

Axel whipped around, calling out a warning to the younger twin. A track over, her older sister had a similar response. “Meg!” she called, moving to rush back when Sora caught her arm.

“Mae we need to stay over here in case it comes back!” he told her, as they watched Axel dodge fireballs to get to the Doom Express, “If it pops up over here we don’t have the time to waste getting back here.”

Meg skipped back a step or two to dodge the thickest part of the hail of fire. ‘ _Talent is nothing to be afraid of Maggie,’_ a familiar, long lost voice chided her fondly; she closed her eyes instinctively against the sting of tears. _‘You just need a little courage, darling.’_

The girls’ eyes snapped open and instinctively lowered her aim. “What happens if you have no wheels?” she muttered, “Blizzaza!” The high-powered, pinpoint focused spell struck on the center of the Doom Express’ front wheel closest too her, shattering it.

Riku’s whole body locked up in complete jaw dropping shock. He stood gapping like a fish, not even registering the Heartless’ screeching. Blizz _aza_!? Meg was just toeing the edges of Blizzara! How had she just skipped two levels to the highest level of Blizzard magic there was?! Even focused into a sniper shot like she had, the effect on its surroundings was impressive. It had taken out a large chunk of the fiery hail, frosting over the floor under its path, splashed up onto the sides of the Doom Express and down on the track. It had even affected Meg a little, casting soft white frost on her nose, cheeks, dark hair, and lashes. As he gaped, the little witch staggered, knees buckled and she crumpled to the floor.

While the Heartless did seem quite annoyed with the girl, huffing smoke out the smokestack, it seemed even more _frightened_ by her, repeatedly trying to roll backwards and running into ice and fired one final fireball before the ice cracked and fell away from the tracks, letting the Doom Express duck back into its tunnel and pop up at the furthest track from her.

“Meg look out!” Mae called, trying one more time to surge to her sister’s defense before Sora caught her arm yet again.

“She’ll be fine!” Sora stressed, tugging her to face the Heartless again, “We’ve gotta take care of this!” Meg, still on the ground, skittered backwards and away from the fireball. She avoided it, but by doing so toppled backwards down the stairs.

“Mae, Sora! Meg was onto it! Take out its wheels!” Riku shouted from the other side of the flames.

Mae turned to the train Heartless with a deadly glare. “An Achilles _wheel_ huh?” she asked the fuming engine, then a smirk crept onto her lips before she rushed forward to the far side of the car, eyeing the back wheel, “That’s not hard to take care of…” She flipped her purple Keyblade around in her grasp, then jabbed the end into the center of the back wheel. Finding it surprisingly secured in the wheel, she let go briefly to grab one end of the guard with both hands and pull it as hard as she could toward her, sending the Keyblade, and the wheel it was fastened to, spinning like a lug wrench.

Naturally, the Heartless put up quite the fuss, letting out another whistling shriek and bucking back in effort to shake off the spinning blade. Mae shuffled back out of the way, and each time the back wheels crashed to the tracks again the ground shook, threatening to knock her off her feet.

Meg groaned, and had a moment of panic when the world stayed dark. She’d hit the back of her head pretty hard against stone, but the darkness cleared before too long and she rolled over onto her hands and knees. She felt lightheaded and shaky, reminding her of when she was always sick as a kid. She yelped, holding onto the edge of the step as the Doom Express’ tantrum shook the whole building.

“Meg!” a bit frosted himself, Axel skipped steps to get down to her, dropping down to a knee beside her. “Meg you ok?” he asked frantically, holding onto her shoulders around her back to keep her steady as she sat up again.

“I’m okay, a little woozy,” she shook her head lightly, “My MP got low and I just…”

“Yeah. That’s not good!” he told her, his tone clipped, “You’re MP is a part of you, you expend too much of that energy and you could―” Axel cut himself off, there really wasn’t any telling if using too much power would have the same result on her as it had on him. She was a Somebody, not a Nobody. He huffed a sigh. “―You could have passed out,” he finished, looking at her sternly, “Take an Ether. Get back out there. We could really use that ice of yours.”

“Yes sir,” she muttered meekly shuffling through her pockets for one of the blue liquid filled bottles. Problem was, she had a hard time getting the bottles open normally, and now she was even weaker. She struggled with the bottle, flinching at the pain pulsing at the back of her head with every _crash_ and _boom_ and shout from the platform above her. She scowled at the bottle, frustrated at herself. _Here you were, being of use―miraculously enough―and then you screwed it up by falling over!_ she huffed internally, _Should have figured…_

“You’re still tired,” Axel sighed, coming off the adrenaline rush now that Meg looked like she was going to be ok. He took the bottle, working the cork out before passing it back to her. “See you out there?” his tone was easier now as he tried to catch her eyes.

She nodded keeping her head down a little before downing the contents of the flask. It took a moment but she did start to feel better.

The Heartless was finally beginning to wind down from its tantrum and both Keyblade and wheel were still spinning. Mae saw an opening and grabbed the slowing Keyblade. “Heads up!” she called, tugging both Keyblade and wheel away from the bulk of the monster, flinging it off the end of her Keyblade toward the back of the station, watching until it smashed against the far wall.

“Nice one!” Sora cheered. The Doom Express spouted a hail of fire and ducked away in response, popping up onto Sora’s track. “Ha! I’m not any safer!” Sora jumped forward, ramming his Keyblade into the spokes of the wheels, keeping it from moving. This displeased the thing greatly, and Sora hopped backwards, holding out his palm and fired off a Blizzara blast.

Meg had gotten back up to the platform and had attempted to help keep the Heartless from leaving the track with her sister and Riku, but her vision blurred and doubled. The girl ducked her head shaking it a little as she squeezed her eyes shut. It helped briefly but as the Doom Express rattled into place on Sora’s track it became clear to her she wasn’t gonna be able to rely on her sight. _But you don’t need to,_ she reminded herself and closed her eyes tight again and listened intently for a moment, before lifting her Keyblade and fired.

Sora’s eyes widened as the blast of ice brushed by, millimeters from his face and struck the wheel the same time his own attack did, and the wheel itself shattered. The Keyblade Hero caught his blade from the blast and turned, looking back at the witch as the Doom Express slunk away.

Mae staggered back a step, pressing a hand to her face. “Mae?” Riku sounded further away than she knew he was, “Mae you ok?”

“Yeah,” Mae not-quite-lied, eyebrows knitting together as she recognized the symptoms, “Meg just…hit her head pretty hard.”

Riku started to say something, but was cut off as the Doom Express burst back onto the track, missing Mae by a margin. “Shit.” Dragging Mae back with him.

Though Meg was worried about her sister, she was grateful it didn’t come to her, her head was still spinning, there was a ringing in her ears, she still couldn’t see straight, and she felt sick. She felt guilty that Axel felt so obliged to help her, so she hated having to say this. “Axel, I…can’t help,” she sighed begrudgingly, “I think I have a concussion.”

The redhead glanced back at her over his shoulder, she really didn’t look good. “Alright, you take it easy here then,” Axel told her, trying to catch her eyes, “Maybe try and get to the ticket booth and see if Kairi can do anything for you.”

Meg nodded slowly and grimaced, pressing a hand to her head, and slowly started down the stairs. When she reached the bottom of them she could barely see, but someone grabbed her arm. “This way, Meg,” Hope said, guiding her back towards the ticket booth.

Across the station, Mae staggered a bit into Riku, “Mae?” Riku called again, leaning into her a bit to help support her while not sacrificing his stance.

“Ok, Meg hit her head _really_ hard!” Mae kept her eyes squeezed shut to avoid how the world was spinning.

“Maybe you should fall back.”

Mae shook her head clear and stood straight again, “Let’s deal with this thing already.”

Riku scowled, not thinking this wise at all, but nodded. “If we take out the last wheel on this side, it should be stuck,” he instructed, “Think you can take its wheel off again? I think I’ve got an idea.”

Mae pushed past the lingering dizziness and took her place aside the last remaining wheel on her side, she looked to Riku as he made himself ready and when the Tin Man gave her a nod she jammed the tip of her Keyblade into the wheel again. The Doom Express shrieked, recognizing the familiar attack, and frantically began bucking. Mae, in her disoriented state, wasn’t able to keep hold and stumbled back, effectively disarmed. From where she’d landed on the station floor, she watched her Keyblade a purple blur going up and down with the Heartless’ rapid movements, and wondered if it was possible for the metal blade for break.

Sora took a moment to think. If he went over to help Mae and Riku, it left his platform unguarded. Axel could come cover it, but that left that platform open considering Meg was down for the time being, and there was no telling what platform the Heartless would choose to pop up on next. But if he helped Riku and Mae now, the Doom Express wouldn’t be _going_ anywhere.

Sora backed up and took a running leap over to land on top of the train, having to use both hands to ram _Kingdom Key_ into the roof to keep from sliding off as the thing started to thrash even more.

“Sora!” Riku cried upon his friend’s arrival atop the erratic vehicular Heartless. They _really_ need to get this thing grounded again, and with Mae’s Keyblade stuck in its wheel that didn’t look likely to happen without losing progress. “Mae, you think you can get to the other side?” he asked, turning to the twin still on the station floor. She nodded, getting to her feet and making her way to the front of the engine to circle around.

Before passing, however, she was met with a strong stream of fire blocking her path, and with the way the Heartless continued to rear and buck randomly, there was no way to time some kind of evasive technique. “I’ve got it!” Axel called from the other side of the flames, positioning himself in the isle, “Alright Dark-Horse, whatever you’re doing, do it now!”

Riku watched Mae’s Keyblade closely, waiting for an opening, then quickly dismissed _Way to Dawn_ and bolted for Mae’s Keyblade, grabbing hold of the nearly-stilled blade by the hilt and wrenching it―and the wheel attached―out.

The Doom Express tilted abruptly to one side with one set of its wheels gone, and Riku spun with the purple blade as Mae had done. “Coming your way, Sora!” the Tin Man called before flinging the wheel in his best friend’s direction, keeping a firm hold on the Keyblade’s hilt and letting the wheel fly.

Sora had maybe a second to get himself grounded enough to knock the wheel clear of him. Though he had intended on catching it and slamming it down into the monster’s engine, and hopefully knocking it out for a while, the angle and less-than-happy Heartless didn’t give him the opportunity. “Heads up, Axel!” he called to the redhead.

Axel acted quickly, holding his Chakrams at an angle, overlapping one another for reinforcement. “Wheels away!” he called as the Heartless appendage bounced his way, bracing himself on impact as it bounced off his weapons to crash into its kin.

The Doom Express screeched, flailing about trying to retreat, causing a shower of sparks on its wheel-less side as the metal undercarriage ground against the rails. When it realized it couldn’t move anymore the creature proceeded to thrash wildly about slinging fire everywhere.

“Shit!” Mae exclaimed, stumbling backwards while at the same time trying to cover her head. While Sora made a dive from the top of the Heartless, Riku grabbed Mae, wrapping one arm around her waist the other on the back of her head putting his back to the Doom Express and curled over her a little.

The onslaught of fire raining down didn’t bother Axel, especially knowing Meg, Hope and the Princess were under cover, but the remaining three were backed up against a wall. As he moved to get around to where the others were cornered, he rerouted several fireballs back to the Doom Express, but the more he threw back, the more he realized they weren’t having any effect. He noticed too late that he was only helping to charge the monster for a grand attack of a large glowing ball of flames growing out of its smokestack. “Damnit,” the redhead cursed, and broke into a full run as the Doom Expressed fired. “Get down!” he called to the trio as he reached them, pivoting around and lashing out with a massive cloak of fire over them, absorbing the molten attack.

“Clearly, we need Meg back out here!” Riku called over the roar of the two monster set of colliding flames.

“You’re kidding. She has a concussion! Are you kidding?!” Mae responded, looking up at him, squinting from the harsh light of the fiery blanket over their heads, “We won’t be _getting_ her back, we’ve barely got _me_!”

“Axel, we’re alright now,” Sora told the redhead as he kept up the shield over their heads, even after absorbing the bombardment. He could see the strain it was putting on him to keep this up, but Axel didn’t appear willing to back down. “Axel, you can stop,” Sora tried again, getting worried, and in desperation and adrenaline something snapped, “Axel, quit it!”

Axel recognized an icy flash in Sora’s eyes, and a tone of his voice that caught his attention, distracting him temporarily. Outside the barrier, the Doom Express had stopped its bombardment with a shriek of pain, and as Riku looked back he could see frost quickly melting off of the metal haul the train Heartless. “You were saying?” Riku asked the older twin he was still sheltering.

“I say we don’t give Kairi enough credit for her healing abilities,” Mae remarked.

The distraction was well timed; Axel had been taking a page out of the Doom Express’ book and had been absorbing its attacks into his own. “I’m not responsible for any singed eyebrows!” he called before exploding the shield outward.

The blast caught the Doom Express off-guard, blowing it over to lean half off the tracks against the side of the platform. “Look!” Sora called as the fire cleared, his ‘iciness’ from before gone, “It’s got a weak spot underneath!” Sure enough, there was something glowing in the undercarriage, and Sora wasted no time going after it.

Riku followed his brunette friend with a halfhearted order to Mae to stay put, not believing she would actually _listen_ , summoning his Keyblade, slamming it into the glowing at the same time as Sora.

Meg had back-stepped, pushing Hope and Kairi, back with her as she turned to Kairi, who had refused to let Meg go back out alone. “Thoughts?” she asked.

“I was gonna check on Mae,” the field medic answered, “You sure you’re ok?”

Meg nodded. “I’ll be fine, the weak feeling was the low MP. I’ll feel even _better_ when this Heartless is gone.”

“I don’t think that’s gonna take too long,” Hope shouted over the whining screech of the Heartless as those on the other side of the train dealt the final blow, condemning the creature to flakes of Darkness and giant heart which drifted lazily away.

“Thank goodness,” Kairi sighed before hurrying off to the small band making their way back to the front of the station. She and Sora passed, exchanging words briefly before the both of them moved on.

“That should be the end of your Heatless problem,” Sora reported when he reached them, dusting his hands off on each other for show.

“ _Possibly_ ,” Riku said, walking up. “Did you ever seal a Keyhole here?” he asked glancing around the area.

“Keyhole?” Hope asked brows lifted.

“Oh right!” Sora chimed in, “I didn’t even think about that! Any freaky natural phenomenon recently? Aside for the Heartless?”

“Him?” Hope asked, pointing at Axel.

“I see your point, but no,” the Keybearer chuckled, “Something that’s a little more rooted to the world. Literally.”

“Well the first place I’d check right off would be the Tower,” Axel put in as he, Mae, and Kairi rejoined them, “Not exactly a ‘natural’ phenomenon though.”

“Well it got an amazing view of the sunset, constantly,” Meg offered, “That’s ‘natural’, I guess?”

Riku shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

“Don’t think you have to worry about Pence and all them going into a sugar coma, Hope,” Mae stated tiredly as the group climbed the stairs up to Twilight Town Tower, “If they’re climbing these stairs on a day-to-day basis I think they’ll have no trouble keeping limber.”

“Guess not, just have to worry about them getting into trouble,” she observed, “In all technicality people aren’t allowed up here.

Meg looked around. “I guess that makes sense, it’s not like there’s any _safety_ measures.”

“Nope, it’s really just meant for maintenance for the clock,” the local girl said waving vaguely in the direction of the clock face, “Anyway, where would this Keyhole thing be?”

“Well last time I locked a Keyhole on a clock,” Sora began, and leaned just slightly over the edge to try and see the clock as well, “it was actually _on_ the clock face. Then again, I could also _fly_ at the time, so that was easier.”

“Aaand not so much this time,” Mae stated and turned to the others absently, “So where else?”

“This was about the length of my ideas,” Axel lied, he had _several_ other ideas, but this was the one of them he could handle, all those other places held bad memories, this one at least had some happy ones too. Axel huffed an exasperated sigh, picking up a popsicle stick that he had missed on his previous visit up here. “Hope, can you at least pass along the message to those kids to throw their trash away?” he asked, scowling at the offending flat wooden stick in his hand, “It’s not that hard to carry a popsicle stick until you get to a trash can.” He flicked the stick out of his fingers and off the side of the tower, but all of them were surprised to see it bounce back off of nothing.

“What the Hell…?” Axel’s demand overlapped with Meg’s more startled gasp.

Hope turned to look. “I’d say that counts as a phenomenon!”

“That would be the Keyhole,” Riku agreed.

“I love it when it does that!” Sora remarked, grinning as he summoned _Kingdom Key_ to his hand. He moved in front of the hovering Keyhole, raising his Keyblade with practiced steadiness, and shortly after it lined up a thin, white light shot from the end of his Keyblade and disappeared into the Keyhole. There was a resounding _click_ , and the Keyhole solidified and vanished.

“So is that it?” Mae asked, eyebrows furrowing, “You don’t even have to stick it in like a normal lock and key? Just shoot a little laser-pointer at it and tada? That’s it?”

“That’s all,” Kairi answered with a quick shrug.

“Well that’s a bit anticlimactic,” Mae’s furrowed eyebrows formed into an entire scowl of disappointment, “I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was expecting it to be a little more than that.”

“Glitter and magic sparkles?” Riku offered snippily, “Maybe a fanfare? Or a whole dazzling firework display complete with concert. Perfect for stealth!”

“Oh, and I suppose you think this location _smack_ on top of the biggest landmark in town is ‘stealthy’?”

Meg sighed and went to Axel, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he responded too quickly. It wasn’t like there were kids trashing his and Roxas’ special place on a daily basis, or that he was now palling around with who was essentially his ex-girlfriend, who he owed much more than the world itself it felt like, his best friend’s Other, and the punk kid who took him away to start with. He looked out over the town to avoid her eyes, the harsh sun stinging his. “Yeah, fine.”

Meg blinked at him for a moment before looking around. Mae and Riku were too busy arguing, and Hope was talking to Kairi―probably an ‘are they always like this?’ kind of thing―and Sora seemed to be giving a halfhearted attempt to stop the fight. With the ease that no one was paying attention, and she wouldn’t have to explain herself the little brunette took a few steps closer to Axel and hugged him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Simply & Hibiscus Note: Heeeeeey everybody! Been a hot minute! So remember that semester that was hitting Hibiscus like a freight train? Yeaaaah that held true through May, and then Simply was travelling, and summer got crazy and we're posting as soon as we got this chapter back from our betareader. Not to mention this was another chapter that really needed the TLC, especially with that boss battle, there was a diagram involved. But it's here now! We didn't abandon you! And we don't plan to! Hibiscus is on her last year of college and then it's sweet editing-filled freedom (and finding a job that pays better than minimum wage)!
> 
> Also! Hope is character Simply created for a little oneshot she did back in the days of FF.net called "Between Misery and Death" (it also made an appearance on her DA *shudders*) And we liked her so much we counted it as cannon for this project and made her apart of it. The one shot is still alive on Simply's FF account because Simply has no idea how to get into it anymore(Her DA for either for that matter). We're also talking about putting it up here. We'll see. Point being if you're that one in a million person who's read Misery and Death and recognized Hope please know that it's the same Simply here as on FF as on DA.
> 
> tl;dr: Uploading schedule got shot to hell and it's likely going to continue to be wonky, but we DEFINITELY won't orphan this work. We've invested too much of our lives to these kids. Hope is a immigrant from a former Simply piece. PS: Who else is hype for KH3?! 13th month of 2018 here we come!


	8. Olympus Coliseum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK

          “I don’t know why I didn’t think to come here sooner,” Sora chattered away as he landed the Gummi, pulling this lever and that to park, “It’s great training for a couple of beginners like you guys!”

“Where are we?” Kairi asked, trying to see out the window around Mae in the seat next to her.

“The Coliseum,” Axel answered as he too looked out the window at what to him was a familiar landscape, “Could be good for _all_ of us really.”

“Coliseum?” Meg asked looking over at him. “Like the one in Rome?”

“The town’s called Thebes,” Riku explained, leaning forward to look out the window over her shoulder for a moment before standing. “But we refer to it as the Olympus Coliseum.”

Meg blinked up at him. “Olympus? As in _Mount_ Olympus, as in home of the gods ‘Mount Olympus’?” Riku’s brows lifted in surprise.

“Woah…” Mae awed.

“No way, did we find your world already?!” Sora asked, popping out from the cockpit.

“No, but definitely put that on the list of trippy things,” Mae’s eyebrows furrowed, “So we went from Arabian Nights, to Halloween land, which is connected to Christmas land, to the Twilight Zone, to _Clash of the Titans_?”

“Town, Mae,” Meg corrected. “Twilight _Town,_ the Twilight Zone is creepy and eerie, Twilight Town is pretty,” she pointed out, standing up to follow Riku.

“So I’m taking it it’s something you’re aware of in your world?” the Tin Man asked moving towards the door.

Meg nodded. “Greek Mythology, they taught it to us in school, but uh, as myths, not _real_ ,” she chuckled nervously.

Mae got up to follow, “Although I might pay money to see Hephaestus split Zeus’ skull.” The entire group, save for maybe Meg, stopped and turned to give Mae a questioning look. “What? The guy’s a jerk!” she defended, “He’s a god! He lives! Plus that’s how Athena’s born, and Athena’s the best.”

“You sure you didn’t escape a _mental_ institution?” Axel asked.

Meg chuckled nervously again. “Actually, she’s right. According to the stories, Zeus swallowed her as a baby, and when Athena grew to an adult she hammered against his skull ‘til his craftsmen Hephaestus split his skull and out she came,” she shuffled looking down and rubbing the back of her head, “Yeah, ironically she’s the goddess of wisdom,”

“So, the one Mae needs the most, and is lacking in her life,” Riku said with a snort.

"She's also the goddess of warfare!" Mae pointed out.

"Well...I don't think we'll be seeing _that_ ," Sora got the them back on-topic before the two started arguing again, "but my friend Hercules is here, him and Phil can get you guys battle-savvy in no time."

"Wait, did you just say 'your friend _Hercules'_?" Mae asked, eyebrows raised.

“Well that’s intimidating,” Meg muttered.

At the same time, Mae let out a falling whistle. “Well, this _will_ be interesting.”

Meg pursed her lips, giving her sister a wary sideways look before shaking her head and looking over at Sora. “So um, Coliseum?”

“Yeah this way!” Sora said springing forward to lead the group moved on out of the Gummi. Meg made a point to keep close to Axel, “So you’ve been here before too?” she asked softly, leaning into him slightly as she did.

Axel shoved his hands in his pockets. “Not in the same way Sora has,” he answered, “But I’ve had the occasional mission here and there.”

“Missions? From when you worked for that…Organization, thing?” she asked slowly, knowing it wasn’t his favorite subject. _So why are you asking numbskull?_ She bit her lip and jammed her hands in her pockets as well to hide the tempo of her imaginary playing.

Axel opened his mouth to answer when Sora interrupted. “Herc!” he called, waving emphatically to gain the hero’s attention.

The tall, auburn-haired man glanced over his shoulder. “Sora!” he cheered, happily setting down the huge pile of boulders he was effortlessly carrying and coming over. “Long time no see!” he said holding up his hand for a high five.

Sora reciprocated the gesture. “I know! How’ve things been?” he asked.

“Pretty good, just cleaning up from the last round of the Games,” he said indicating the rubble he’d been carrying, “Who are your new friends? And where’s Donald and Goofy?”

“Oh,” Sora reacted as if he only just remembered himself, then his face fell slightly, but he still smiled, “They’re back home, they thought I could handle it on my own now, with supervision of course.” He turned to the group gathering behind him, brightening back up to his usual self as he pointed them out, “That’s Riku, Kairi, my friends from home, then there’s Axel, and the matching ones are the twins! Meg and Mae!”

Herc blinked a little. “Well that’s gonna be confusing.”

“Actually you get use to it fairly quickly,” Riku offered with a shrug. “Teal for Meg and blue for Mae is a nice shortcut.”

“Well, that will help, but more what I was thinking is, my wife’s name is also Meg,” he chuckled with a little blush, rubbing the back of his head.

Meg blinked and laughed a little. “Yeah, that might be confusing.”

“You and Megara got married?!” Sora exclaimed with a full, wholehearted, beaming grin.

“That’s right,” the Athenian woman came down the stairs from the Vestibule, stopping a few steps short of the bottom to sling an arm around her husband’s shoulders, “How you been, Hero?”

“Pretty good!” he replied brightly, before twisting back around again, repeating the introductions, “Meg, meet other Meg, her sister Mae, Axel, and my old friends Riku and Kairi.”

Megara nodded to the group, “Your little band just keeps on growing, doesn’t it?”

“Perhaps one too many,” Riku muttered, jumping slightly as Meg slapped him on the arm.

“Nice to meet you,” Meg greeted coolly with a smile as though the smack was perfectly normal.

“Everyone, these are my friends Hercules and Megara,” Sora introduced.

“So what brings you back to the Coliseum, Champ?” the Athenian woman asked.

“Well, some of my friends are a bit new, and we figured they could use some training in non-potentially-lethal situations,” Sora explained, “And who better to take them to than you guys!”

The Greek hero looked them over. “Sure, let’s go see what Phil says. He’s still in the arena right?” Hercules asked his wife.

“That’s where I left the jabbering satyr,” she answered before straightening, making her way back up the stairs to the Vestibule doors, “Come on, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.”

They all followed along, Sora and Herc picked back up the ‘catching up’ chat, despite the short walk through the Vestibule, lined with torches and trophies. _Trophies, didn’t know they had trophies other than olive laurels,_ Meg mused.

On the other side of the small room was a hallway roped off with a sign that said ‘No entry’, a command they ignored, hopping over the rope after Hercules and Megara. The hall led into a large sandy rectangle surrounded by stone bleachers. In the middle of the arena stood a short round man with goat legs and horns, wielding a broom. “Come on Champ, got to get this place cleaned up from Hades’ last visit before the Games!”

“Has he _still_ not learned?” Sora asked.

The satyr jumped, spinning around. “Hey Sora, Don―” the little man looked around, “Where is ol’ beak-face and Goofy anyway?”

“They had other things to do, we’re the replacements,” Riku said, so Sora wouldn’t have to repeat it again.

“And who are you?”

“I’m Kairi,” the Princess piped up, then pointed back behind her to each of them, “And this is Riku, we’re old friends of Sora’s. And then those are the twins and Axel!”

“Got yourself a new troupe huh? Well, never hurts to give your support a break,” the satyr said. “So, planning on kicking butt and taking names at this next tournament? Running a little low on places to put your trophies kid,” the goat-man said with a proud grin, elbowing Sora’s leg a little.

“Those were all _yours_?” Mae asked, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Sora scratched the back of his head, grinning bashfully. “Actually Phil, we’ve got some newbies,” the Keyblade master changed the subject back on-topic, “Was hoping to get some not-quite-lethal training in before they get permanently damaged.”

“Any _more_ ,” Riku added. “Mae here’s already got herself a throat problem from inhaling too much poison,” he said jabbing a thumb at said twin, “Meg’s been a little more careful.”

“Oh come on, that thing defied the laws of physics!”

Phil’s brow rose at the younger twin indicated by the silver haired boy. “You’re also a Meg?”

“Yes sir,” Meg said quietly.

“Oh gods, just what I need!”

“What do you say Phil?” Sora said, bringing things back to the point again, “Will you help the girls get into fighting shape?”

“I’m _in_ fighting shape!” Mae clarified, “Just not with this Keyblade thing!”

“A real spitfire, this one,” Megara commented, hooking a thumb at them, “You think you can handle them Phil?”

“Hmmm,” the little man mused, “Not a matter of if I can handle ‘em, but if they can handle me, I’m use to training men, not women.”

Mae let out a bust of a laugh. “Oh well _that’s_ funny,” she commented, arms crossed over her chest.

“Mae, _please―_ ” Meg sighed.

“What’s that supposed to mean missy?” Phil demanded scowling up at her.

“It means I was competing in tournaments of my own, taking down guys _twice_ my size and coming out on top, and I didn’t need a weird Keyhole-locking _sword_ to do it!” she stated matter-of-factly, leaning down closer to him with a scowl of her own, “Now, I’m no _demigod_ , but you try saying I can’t do something because I’m a _girl_ again?” her glare darkened as she straightened back up again, “You won’t like what happens.”

Meg grabbed Mae’s arm hissing in her ear quietly enough no one else heard. “Do _not_ start this again Mae,” her tone was low and even, “I _don’t_ want a repeat of Matthew Lark, only with _gods_!”

“Oh, I _like_ her,” Megara chimed in amusedly in the tense silence, a chuckle in her tone.

Phil laughed, not impressed or bothered by Mae’s threat. “Hot shot huh? Maybe _you_ should have been the one named Meg,” he chuckled glancing briefly at the Greek Meg. “Anyway, Miss All-That, let’s see what you got,” Phil said pointing to the arena.

“Herc!” a new voice called, and a man came from the Vestibule in a hurry, “There’s something really weird going on in the Underworld!” He was dark haired, spiked back astonishingly similar to Axel’s, and nearly as toned as the demigod himself.

“Already?” Herc asked, turning to the man, “He just had one of his monsters in here.”

“Hades never was the most patient of them,” Riku muttered.

“He sure picked a bad day to cause trouble though,” Phil said striding foreword. “As if you and Zack couldn’t lay down the smack down on him, you got Sora and his new team. Accept you two,” he said turning back to the twins. “You’re staying here and getting that temper of yours under wraps,” he said pointing at Mae, “Power does you no good if you’re firing off at anything and anyone.”

Mae opened her mouth to protest, “But―!”

“Someone’s gotta man the fort!” Zack offered with a brightness that rivaled Sora’s, “Hades attacks up here all the time, if no one’s up here to fend off whatever monster he throws up here the Coliseum will be in shambles again!”

“I don’t particularly feel the need to be traveling to the Underworld anytime soon anyway,” Meg put in, tucking her hands behind her back. “Too complicated to get there and back again,” she smiled a little at Mae.

“Alright,” Phil cut in, “We ain’t gettin’ any younger, let’s get a move on. Watch your backs down there, and don’t worry about these two, they’re in good hands.”

“You should probably stay too Kairi,” Sora added, “It’s difficult enough down there; I don’t want you to get hurt.” The Princess looked ready to protest, but conceded, hearing the genuine worry in his voice.

“Girls’ night in,” Meg snorted, “Well almost.” She glanced down at the little goat man.

“Yeah yeah, now you! Into the arena,” Phil said shoving at Mae’s shins, “And the rest of you get going, Hades ain’t gonna wait for you to mosey on down there.”

          “Assuming what’s waiting down there is a fight,” Sora began as he and the rest of the guys backtracked to head to the mouth of the Underworld, “We’ve got the Olympus Stone, right?”

“Yes we do,” Hercules said. “Considering he’s been on the war path forever, decided it would be better for us to hang onto it,” the hero said, producing said stone.

“Yeah, because some of us don’t have sheer godlike strength to make up the difference in there!” Zack teased with half a grin.

“And who the hell are you?” Axel finally brought the question to light all the new arrivals were all thinking, “Pun _not_ intended.”

Zack looked at him curiously before it seemed to dawn on him as well. “Oh, I’m such an idiot!” the dark-haired man thumped the heel of his gloved hand against his forehead, “I’m Zack! Zack Fair!”

“‘Fair’?” Riku asked a bit taken aback, “Isn’t the twin’s last name?”

“Woah! Are you like their brother or something?!” Sora asked excitedly before scowling a bit in confusion, “Wonder why they didn’t recognize you…”

Zack’s eyebrows furrowed as well. “I…have no siblings,” he answered.

“Distant relative? Cousins maybe?” Sora offered.

“It’s probably just a coincidence. They seem to attract those.” Riku offered.

“It’s so weird!” Sora added, “What with you having the same last name, and the twins knowing a bunch about stuff here like goddesses coming out of splitting skulls and all kinds of craziness!” Sora paused, scowling in thought again, “Although thinking about it that does sound kind of out there.”

Sora had been expecting more snark from Riku, but the teen had fallen silent as they descended the last few steps into grim gloom of the Underworld. “Where do we go from here?” Riku asked in strained levelness.

“Hades’ room is through that door,” Hercules said.

“I don’t like the feel of this place,” Axel muttered, keeping alert, “Death palace aside.”

“My gut’s telling me we’re about to walk into a trap…” Zack added.

“Don’t worry, you got me with you,” Hercules said easily shoving open the blue marked door, “Trap or no, we can handle it. What matters is keeping the Coliseum and everyone in town safe.”

Sora looked around, everything seemed quiet. “So Zack, didn’t you say something weird was going on down here?” he asked.

The demigod’s friend furrowed his brows in confusion as well. “Yeah,” he answered, though sounded much more uncertain now than he had when he had alerted them before, “Something was definitely up before, _obviously_ something was up before, there were a ton of creepy-crawlies and rumblings, but now…”

“Now it’s too quiet,” Axel finished, “And I reiterate Zack’s statement before about this being a trap.”

Riku nodded. “Guess we better be on our guard.”

          “Come on Sweet Cheeks!” Phil yelled, “You’re barely hitting the halfway mark!”

Meg tipped her head a little, letting it rest in her palm. “Wonder what the point is of having her smash a certain amount of pots in a limited time…” she mused, not really expecting the girls on either side of her to know.

“I’ve never been able to tell myself, if I’m honest,” Megara commented, arms crossed over her chest, watching the older twin amusedly, “I’m not sure what he’s trying to teach her, but your sister’s bound and determine to learn whatever it is _her_ way.”

“As always.” Meg sighed closing her eyes, “Mae never did quite grasp the concept of having to _actually learn_ the rules.”

In the arena, Mae could _feel_ the timer running out. There were still at least six barrels left―two sets of three set up on opposite ends of the arena―that she had to take out in what had to be less than a minute now. If had been as simple as to dash from one side of arena to the other, she would have no problem, but the once-flat field had been transformed into a tri-level mini-maze.

She only had thirty seconds now. In a hurry, Mae jabbed her Keyblade into the center of the small pyramid of barrels and bolted off to the next set, not even bothering to look back to see if the barrels had broken themselves. Down two levels, she could see the top barrel peeking over the two levels on the other end. There was no time to try and climb up and drop down on the other side and _then_ smash the last three. Instead Mae cut across and darted around the back down what was almost an alleyway, wheezing as she rounded the corner.

Ten seconds. She sprinted towards the set of barrels at the end, her lungs protesting. Five seconds, still not close enough, still wheezing. Three seconds. She had to do _something_. She threw her Keyblade, not even stopping and nearly stumbling from the force, letting it fly. Two, still flying. One, impact. Mae braced herself against the wall with a hand, catching her breath a little too hastily. Gulps for air turned into coughs. The timer rang and Mae slid down the wall coughing, one hand clamped over her mouth, another arm around her ribs. She faintly recalled her Keyblade whizzing by her on its return.

Megara stood in the bleachers, eyebrows furrowed at the twin when she didn’t pop back up. “Spitfire, you alright?” she called.

“Mae!” Kairi echoed, standing and beginning her decent down to the floor, “Drink one of your potions!”

“Close kid, closest yet, but not quite,” Phil said walking up to the twin, “I keep tellin’ ya, if you’re gonna pull this off, you gotta change the way you attack the problem!” He stared at the huffing twin for a moment before sighing rubbing his temples. “Alright, take a breather, don’t want you passing out or anything. Hey, you, other twin!” he shouted, gesturing at Meg, snapping as though it would help him recall her name “It’s your turn!”

Meg bit her lip following Kairi down. “I’m not sure if I’m gonna do any better. I’m not much of a striker,” the brunette said, hopping down a few steps to get ahead of Kairi and help her down.

“So what _are_ you?” Phil asked, sounding a little exasperated.

“Um, magic, I can use magic,” Meg rolled her ankle a little.

Phil looked her over. “Well that’s good to know, I’ll have to up the barrel count.”

“Up?” Kairi echoed, looking over from her place crouched next to Mae, holding one of the twin’s specialty potions opened and at the ready.

“That’s correct,” the satyr said rolling out a few more of the barrels, “As a magician she has more of a range and can hit a multitude of enemies at once, unlike Hot Shot here who has to run all over the arena.”

“I guess, that makes sense,” Meg agreed quietly, “But I’m not all that strong of a magic user, like, at all.”

“Break a leg, Sis,” Mae’s voice was hoarse and raspy as she wiped her mouth, resting her hand with the half-empty bottle down beside her.

“Mae! You shouldn’t talk!” Kairi scolded, but without quite the amount of authority Aerith had.

“Come on Mouse, can’t get better if you don’t push your limit,” Phil said walking around behind to shove her out into the arena. “Get out there and do your best.” he called, returning to the rest.

Meg stood in the center of the obstacle course and looked around at the barrels. Thunder strikes were erratic, but, she was pretty sure she could hit a good percent of them with it. But, Mae was still really close and actually watching this time, so instead she leveled her Keyblade and systematically began blasting the barrels individually with ice.

“Hmm, her spells might be weak, but she seems to have a good amount of MP,” Phil observed, watching Meg scamper around to get a clear shot of the next set of barrels.

As the younger twin continued to churn out spell after spell, Megara raised her eyebrows. “An _impressive_ amount of MP,” she commented, before turning to the girls beside her, “How long ago did you girl say you started fighting?” Mae opened her mouth to answer, but was quickly silenced. “ _You_ , don’t answer that,” the Athenian woman interrupted, then looked to the redwood-haired Princess expectantly.

“Well,” Kairi thought for a moment. “It can’t have been more than a month, and there was a week of downtime at least while Mae recovered,” she relayed. “But, Meg was working on her Magic most of that time.”

“Only a month huh,” Phil mused stroking his whiskery chin. “She must have started with a lot of natural Magical prowess. Hey Kairi, tell me, she know any more spells other than ice?”

“Ice is her favorite,” Mae rasped, followed by a defensive swig of water to avoid Kairi’s scolding.

Kairi scowled at her slightly nonetheless. “She learned Thunder a while back too,” she continued, keeping a skeptical eye on Mae who looked much too innocent as she drank her water, “And she’s just learned Fire, but she couldn’t have used it in more than one fight so far. Axel kinda has that covered.”

Phil nodded solemnly looking down at his clock, she only had seconds left and perhaps two sets of barrels left. “So, she’s holding back, huh?”

“I…guess?” Kairi tipped her head to one side, unsure that was really a judgment she could make, “I just thought it was because Blizzard was her first, she’s just more comfortable with it.”

“Give her a break Phil,” Megara elbowed the satyr, nearly making him lose his footing, “They’re still new at this, it’s why Sora brought them to _you_.”

“You know you could have gotten through that a lot faster if you had used your lighting right?” Phil asked Meg as her time ran out.

Meg shook her head. “Not…necessarily. It’s erratic, there was no guarantee it’d hit the barrels,” She pointed out with a vague gesture of her hand.

“Maybe when you got down to the last few, but up front it’s gonna hit more then it won’t.” Phil reminded. “You’ve got an impressive amount of power for a greenhorn, so don’t be afraid to test the limit.”

Meg flinched. “Last time I did that I got a concussion…”

“Yeah, I’d prefer that not to happen again,” Mae said, rubbing the back of her head at the memory, her voice improved from before.

“Well, what happened?”

Meg sighed, folding her hands over the hilt of her Keyblade, the silver mouse head dangling between her fingers. “We were in a fight and I pushed my Magic to a level I hadn’t tried yet. It cleared out pretty much all my MP and I got lightheaded and dizzy and fell down some stairs, smacking my head against the stone,” she explained. “Kinda seemed to freak…everyone, out.”

“Do it again,” Phil said.

The younger Meg blinked. “What!?”

“Do what again?” Kairi asked, “The round? Shouldn’t we let Meg get her MP back first?”

“No, not yet, what she did that caused her to get dizzy,” Phil corrected.

“Uh, how about we _don’t_ give my sister a second concussion?” Mae offered, eyebrows raised in disbelief at the satyr.

Phil looked around at them. “But we won’t, what caused the concussion was her falling, she fell ‘cause you were in a fight,” he pointed out, “Here, we can catch her. Besides, if there’s a side effect to her using too much MP don’t you want to know about it now when you’re _not_ trying to fight off Heartless?”

Meg bit her lip. “He has a point,” she said looking down at Mae.

The elder twin scowled at him; she didn’t want Meg hurt again, but knowing all they could ahead of time, in a ‘safe zone’ like he said, would be good. “Can you _promise_ you’ll catch her?” she asked skeptically.

“She’ll be safe, Spitfire,” Megara assured her, giving Meg a nod of affirmation.

The younger Meg sighed and nodded, “Alright, just let me…” She trailed off, fishing an Ether from her pocket and downing it before turning away from them. She tried to think, what was it that had triggered that attack, it had something to do with the fact that she was pathetic, ironically.

_‘Still waters run deep.’_

“Blizzaza!”

Phil’s eyes grew huge. “Holy Hera!”

Kairi blinked before looking over to Mae. “Is it just me or was that _bigger_ than last time?”

The twin paid no attention to the Princess, getting to her feet to see her sister better. “Meg, you alright?” she called, chest tight and not just from straining her throat just a little too much.

Meg staggered, and took a knee leaning on her Keyblade. “Dizzy.”

Mae, Kairi, and Phil came up to her. “Here Meg, take this,” Kairi said, pulling out another one of the blue bottles and holding it out her.

“Thank you,” Meg said dropping to sit cross legged on the floor, Keyblade still impaled into the ground next to her.

“You have a whole heck of a lot of talent there!” the goat cheered looking excited, “A magical prodigy!”

Meg flinched, “Thank you.” She muttered, downing the Ether.

“Right, you rebuild your MP, when you get it back, we’ll work on seeing if we can _increase_ it. At least enough you can sling that spell without worrying about hurting yourself,” he said patting her knee. “Now, if you’re up to it, let’s see if we can refine _your_ raw talent,” Phil said looking at Mae.

The elder twin straightened, holding herself confidently as she looked down at the satyr. “Always.”

          “I’m still seeing a whole lot of nuttin’,” Sora commented as they finally reached the door to Hades’ Chamber, looking around behind him at the empty cavern. Not _one_ Heartless had intercepted them the entire way, which was unusual, “Hades has _got_ to be planning something.”

“Guess we’ll find out,” Hercules said entering the circular room. There was a moment of pause, where all five of them stood braced for something to jump at them. But nothing happened. “He’s not here?”

“Gentlemen!” the god appeared with snap and a small explosion of smoke. “So glad you could make it!” the blue-skinned god cheered, settling in to his throne.

“Hades!” Zack hissed, and everyone made themselves ready for a fight.

“We know you’re up to something Hades, so why not just come out with it for once!” Sora commanded, _Kingdom Key_ held tight in his hands.

“What, can’t a guy just have a meeting with his Nephew and old friends? Seriously Riku, it’s been way too long, haven’t seen you since what, Hollow Bastion?” the god asked.

Riku flinched a fraction, which he _attempted_ to cover by glaring. “About,” he sneered.

The comment quickly got Sora onto the defensive. “What do you want, Hades?!” he snapped.

“A~nd the little Keyblade brat, building up a team of former enemies huh?” the Greek god asked, “Cause isn’t Spiny Head over there an organization member?” The god pointed over to Axel before narrowing his eyes a little. “So, you’re not the little guy who was poking around here a couple years ago, right?”

Hercules blinked twice. “Wait, I remember that, he was the one who stole the Olympus stone?”

“ _Definitely_ not Axel,” Sora confirmed, almost with a bit of a chuckle. Whether Demyx had revealed himself or not, no way Axel would run away from a fight like _that_.

“Still an Organization member, though right?” Hades scowled, “Geez, can forgive a guy for causing havoc over every world on old Feather-Back’s game board, killing a bunch of people, and kidnapping, but are all suspicious and yadda of a guy for simply trying to liven the place up. What kinda universe do we live in?” he grumbled without even waiting for confirmation.

“My deserting the Organization is old news, Hades,” Axel’s eyes narrowed at the Underworld god.

“Yeah! Axel’s on _our_ side now!” Sora added.

“Besides, as I recall you were right on board with Maleficent’s plan for universe domination,” Riku snapped back.

“Well if a black-coated, heartless fella can turn a new leaf is it _so_ difficult to believe I would?” Hades asked.

Sora looked between the two of his friends, for a moment unsure considering neither Axel _nor_ Riku had ever _been_ a Heartless. “You can’t talk to them like that!” he shouted at the god, “They’ve worked hard to get where they are, while you’ve sat on your throne sending Heartless and monsters to do your dirty work!”

“And the pack of wannabe heroes come storming in to save the day, leaving a bunch of amateur girls, and a _goat_ topside _all. Alone_ ,” Hades said with a crocodile grin.

Zack’s eyes widened with realization just as the whole area shook. His head snapped over to the others. “The girls!”

“HADES!” Hercules bellowed.

“Hey hey, don’t blame me, it’s not like I _dragged_ you down here. You left them of your own free will,” he pointed out chuckling and leaning back in his throne.

“We _gotta_ to get back up there!” Riku and Sora cried in unison, turning back towards the exit.

“Aw, leaving so soon?” Hades hissed, leaning forward as a swarm of Heartless popped up around them.

Zack glared back over his shoulder at the god. “You caused all that craziness to lure us down here didn’t you?!” he accused, dark eyebrows knitted together in a scowl as Hades vanished in a chuckling puff of smoke.

“Looks like we were right, this _was_ a trap,” Axel commented, summoning his Chakrams to his sides.

“But we forgot to think about the _girls_ in that equation!” Sora added, _Kingdom Key_ ready, “Try and get passed what you can, only stop and fight if you have to, we _have_ to get back up to the Coliseum!”

Riku summoned his Keyblade as well, looking around for Hades briefly just to make sure the god really _had_ vanished before slapping a Heartless out of the way; ducking under the ones Hercules sent flying as they all dashed for the exit. “I’d say the girls would be able to hold it off for a while, _both_ twins pack a punch when it counts, but there’s no telling what Hades threw at them.”

“Something big that’s for sure,” Hercules cast a glance at the ceiling as he continued to make for the door.

As they approached the door to the Passage of the Cave of the Dead, a row of Lance Soldiers barred their way. “Make way!” Axel called from behind, and when those in front of him parted, one of his flaming Chakrams whizzed by, creating a moderate explosion when it made contact with the Heartless. When the smoke cleared and Axel’s Chakram was back in hand, and their path was cleared to proceed through to the Passage.

“Nice!” Herc praised hurrying down the path through the Passage and into the wide open space of the Entrance where they were met with the three growling heads of―“Cerberus!”

“What did you think I was gonna pass up an opportunity to _keep_ you dead? Some of you have a nasty habit of dodging it.” Hades sneered from behind the dog, back by the closed doors.

The canine monster reared its heads back and spat a fireball from each towards the group. “Heh, it’s like they weren’t even watching!” Axel scoffed, coming to the front of the group, throwing flaming Chakrams out to intercept a fireball each.

“Heads up!” it was Zack’s call that came from behind this time, and Axel barely glanced back before ducking down just in time for the dark-haired warrior to take a flying leap over the ex-Nobody, broadsword brandished to cut through the last fireball, dissipating it.

“Your specialty move just got a whole lot less potent Hades!” Axel taunted, standing to his full height again as his weapons returned to him and the others all readied themselves behind him and Zack.

“We’ve taken on Cerberus before,” Hercules pointed out to Sora, “This shouldn’t be too hard.”

“You think so, do you?” Hades chuckled from the door as Cerberus roared, throwing back all three heads again before dropping them and exhaling thick clouds of sticky black Darkness, flooding the grim, grey stone of the cave floor with pockets of the stuff that homed in on the group sending them scattering out of the way. The three different heads snapped at whoever came within their reach as the dog stalked around the cavern.

“Looks like he remembers some of his old tricks!” Sora called with half a grin, dodging out of the way of the small geyser of Darkness shooting up from the ground.

“No problem!” Hercules agreed, stopping despite the geysers to punch one of the side heads, sending the monster staggering to one side, it turned bellowing and snapping at the hero with all three heads. Hercules caught two heads, but before the third could attack Riku slid under its belly, springing up slamming his Keyblade up into the dog’s chin. Levering it back just enough for Hercules to launch the guardian across the room.

“Way to _go_ guys!” Sora cheered as he came to a stop, pointing his Keyblade at the belly of the beast partially embedded into the stone wall, “Blizzaga!”

Zack rushed at Cerberus, slicing at the hellhound while it was still immobile, frozen against the wall. The battle seemed to be reaching a quick end with the way all five of the men attacking so relentlessly. After seeing a green glow out of the corner of his eye, Cerberus lifted its heads from the crumbling stone, practically _grinning_ as Zack stumbled back.

“What!?” was the general uproar from the group of warriors as the health of the guardian dog was restored.

“These things really are quite handy,” Hades observed holding up a large empty potion bottle. Cerberus roared again, rearing back onto its back feet stomping down and forward towards the Soldier.

One of Axel’s Chakrams struck the side of one of the heads, slicing a red line along one of its three muzzles before returning to its owner. “Sora! Can you blast it again?” he called as Cerberus turned three sets of angry eyes on him.

“Got it!” the brunet answered, and aimed his Keyblade at the monster again and those furious eyes set their sights on him in return. Cerberus then leaped over, bypassing Axel completely, and would have landed on top of Sora, had he not dodged out of the way.

The dog was pulled back sharply by his tail. The Greek hero took a deep breath and heaved again throwing the dog back the cavern, towards Riku. The Tin Man scrambled back, away from the monster, scraping up his forearms and knees as he skidded across the floor in his retreat. “Riku, you okay!?” Hercules asked.

“Fine, just uh, look next time?” he asked, dodging back from the head that snapped at him a green glow radiating off its hulking body.

“Those things come in limited supply Hades!” Zack warned the god angrily, “You’ll run out of them soon enough!”

“So does your strength,” the god pointed out apathetically, tossing aside another bottle, “Which do you think will run out first?” The canine whipped around again, spewing out another volley of fire balls at the heroes.

“Shit!” Axel threw a Chakram out in a fit of desperation, striking the three fireballs that were lined up out of sheer luck, but the heads were still snapping around to follow it up.

“Thundaga!” Sora called, and Cerberus shook all three of its heads to shake off the jolt. “Everyone we’ve got to just go at it!” he instructed.

“Yeah! Hades can only heal him when it’s actually got energy to _restore_!” Zack agreed.

Cerberus bellowed once again, rearing back on its hind legs, slamming down onto its front paws causing a shockwave to spread out from each point of impact pushing the men back, away from him, before once again exhaling out a waterfall of darkness sending them scattering further. He stalked around, snapping at them. Hades seemed to be getting bored with just standing around and issued out a stream of fire, distinctly not in Axel’s direction.

“Tch, should have figured,” Axel scoffed, dodging away from the spurts up of Darkness that followed under his feet.

Hades continued blasting fire, pushing the non-fire-resistant members of the team toward the snapping heads of the underworld guardian. Riku hissed, dodging under the monster’s belly slamming _Way to Dawn_ up into its gut. The dog bellowed in pain, rearing back again.

Axel eyed Hades for a moment. “Sora, blast it again! Just like before with Zack!” he called to the Keyblade Hero, then turned cold eyes to the god of the Underworld, stalking his way, “I’ll distract Hades”

Hades watched the redhead stalk towards him with a slimy grin, popping the cork of another bottle of green liquid and tossing it to the dog just for fun, and to agitate the former Nobody further. “Well well, abandoning you friends again Spiny?”

“You think this is a walk to change sides, Hades?” Axel scoffed before readying his weapons at his sides with a smirk, “Don’t _flatter_ yourself.”

The god hummed a bit, curling his fingers round his long chin. “And what exactly do you intend to accomplish with this? ‘Cause let’s face the facts, I’m immortal you’re _not_ ,” he bellowed throwing double fireballs at him.

Axel swatted one fireball away with a Chakram, catching the second in his hand where it immediately dissipated. “You already forgot what I said about your key move being all but useless, didn’t you?” Axel inquired wryly, summoning his second Chakram again, “Really need to work on that memory, could be going senile in your old age.”

The god brushed the Chakram he threw at him away. “So I’m fire proof you’re fire proof, what are we going to do? Stand here and trade blows until you overexert yourself and die? Fine with me!” he proclaimed cheerily unleashing a hail of fire on him.

Sora turned to the explosion of fire over near the door. “Axel!”

“Sora, focus!”  Riku called. “He’s buying us the opportunity. As soon as we get rid of Cerberus we can go help him!” he pointed out.

“Come on Sora!” Zack encouraged, “Before Hades gets another opportunity to use one of those Mega-potions on him!”

Hercules readied his stance. “Here he comes!” the hero called before catching one of the snapping heads by its teeth.

“Thundaga!” Sora cast, and the canine stumbled slightly in a daze. _Make it count guys, that’s the last of my MP for a while…_

Hercules took a more firm hold on the head of the dog and heaved, Riku once again slid under the dog’s chest and slammed up into its chest, helping Hercules lift the dog up and slam it into the wall.

Both Zack and Sora surged at the beast, Zack slashing away at its underbelly and Sora whacking away at its heads. The dog got up, shaking its head and snapping at the Keyhero, sending him reeling back from impact, before jumping away from the SOLDIER and the Key Master as well as the Greek hero and the Dark Knight.

Cerberus threw back his heads and roared, bellowing out dark fire balls before jumping away from their scrambling towards him. “Shit!” Zack cursed, “We almost had him!”

Sora looked from the spewing gate-guardian down at his Keyblade. He didn’t have enough MP to pull off another high-level Thunder spell, and he was too far away for melee, but maybe… _Kingdom Key_ crackled with electricity before Sora threw it at one of Cerberus’ heads, knocking the back of the center head with enough force and electric energy to interrupt the attack. “Go at it guys!”

Zack charged toward Cerberus’ turned back, feeling the statically charged air as Sora’s Keyblade flew by him as he ran. “Herc!” he called, readying his sword again, “Could use a leg up!”

Riku took on Sora’s tactic of smacking at the dog’s head, though he used a slightly different approach, pulling from his own MP to warp between the three heads.

Hercules surged forward throwing a punch into the canine’s leg, shifting it out from under the beast and knocking the creature down. Then turned and took a knee holding his interlaced fingers out for Zack, who was coming in fast.

“Not too hard Herc!” he called, “Let’s not send me all the way to Olympus!”  He spring boarded off Hercules’ hands up into the air and over Cerberus’ back. Zack shifted his sword into both hands as his jump peaked, and he started coming back down fast, landing between the canine’s shoulder blades, thrusting his sword down into Cerberus’ back. The hound made a pitiful howl of pain before collapsing and didn’t move again.

“I…almost felt sorry for him,” Riku muttered.

“WHAT!?” Hades’ bellow reverberated around the cave. He growled before sucking air through clenched teeth and running a hand through his flame hair and smoothing out the air in front of him. “Fine, whatever it’s cool, fine, whatever, got the job done. Can’t be much left of your precious Coliseum _or_ your girlfriends,” the god said, going up in a puff of smoke.

“Damnit!” Axel cursed between clenched teeth as the others came up to join him.

“Axel, you ok?!” The redhead turned back to the Keyblade Master, dismissing his Chakrams and shoving his hands into pockets.

“All he can chuck is _fire_ , I’m fine.”

“You can’t be burned?” Zack inquired, sheathing his sword on his back again.

“Don’t we have more _pressing_ matters to attend to?” Axel gestured to the door exasperatedly.

Hercules had already heaved the doors open and was darting towards the stairs. Riku stood at the gate waiting anxiously heading off as soon as the other made the move towards him.

          “Hey! You made it!” Phil cheered as he walked by with a blanket in his arms. “Just in time to help with the clean up!” he chuckled, dropping the blanket over the form of Meg sleeping against one of the blokes of stone. “She’s fine,” he answered in response to their concern, “Just exhausted herself. Got to say Sora, your girls pack a meeean punch.”

They looked around in amazement. Sure, the Coliseum was a wreck again, but that had to do with the lifeless form of the Hydra in the center of the wreckage. “They did this all by themselves?” Zack asked in awe.

“Yeah!” their attention was drawn to Mae, perched on top of one of the Hydra’s heads looking haggard, splattered with green ooze with one of her water bottles in hand, but somehow perkier than any of them had ever seen her. “Looks like we were needed up here after all!” she beamed proudly.

Riku sighed. “This is not going to help with her reckless pride,” he sighed.

Sora blinked around. “So I take it they passed your test Phil?” he laughed.

“Barely!” Phil snorted, “Berserker girl over there would have been hydra chow if she didn’t have Kairi and Meg here.” He scowled back at Mae a little before looking at the sleeping twin at his side, “And the little witch here, packs a punch but we have to get that MP of hers outta the gutter. She’s got more raw magical talent than anyone I’ve ever met, just needs the strength to use it.”  He shrugged hobbling over to them, “They got a _long_ way to go, but hey at least they’re _effective_.”

“Well Phil that’s awesome! Great to see you’re all ok!”

Axel stooped down next to the younger twin, lifting the blanket that was so haphazardly thrown over her to check for any damage, not about to trust a satyr. He couldn’t help just a twinge of guilt for not being there. Here this girl had _exuded_ this need for protection, and he, nor any of the others, aside from her sister and the Princess, had been there. Protecting her safety had been… _a_ reason of his for joining up, and despite his being needed elsewhere, still felt a bit like he abandoned her.

“I told you, she’s fine. Kid just didn’t want to waste more ethers so opted to sleep it off,” Phil told Axel, sounding a bit miffed.

Riku scowled at the redhead before shaking his head looking around. “So no trips to see Aerith required then?” he asked.

“Yup!” Mae hopped down from her perch to walk over, “Although you guys look a bit scuffed up, any of _you_ need Aerith?”

Riku shrugged. “Just Cerberus, no big deal.”

“Did you guys just mention ‘Aerith’?” Zack looked at the two, wide-eyed, and they returned with a confused look.

“You know _another_ Aerith?” Mae asked slowly, eyebrows raised.

“Maybe,” Zack mused, coming closer, his dark eyebrows furrowed, “Aerith Gainsborough?”

“You _do_ know Aerith!” Sora exploded, his ocean eyes positively alight and grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Yeah, my training took me around a bit, traveling,” Zack relayed, almost dazed by the new information, “But we had to leave and then the Heartless attacked and that world was _gone_!”

“She’s doing _great_ ,” Kairi informed the warrior, walking up to the group from the bleachers, “She’s a great healer, and I’m sure she misses you too.”

“Aerith, that name rings a bit of a bell,” Hercules observed thinking for a moment, “Oh, that’s that girl you mentioned, the one you gave the pink ribbon to?”

Zack raked a hand back through his hair, smiling giddily now and blushing. “Yeaaah, that’d be her,” he admitted, awed, “It’s such a relief to hear she’s ok!”

“Zack you _gotta_ come back with us and see her!” Sora pleaded.

“What?” Phil protested. “What led ya to _that_ conclusion!?” he demanded.

“Come on Phil, let Loverboy II see his girl,” Megara persuaded, coming up beside her own hero, arms crossed over her chest.

“We can still help clean up!” Kairi offered.

“That’s alright, we can manage. I think Zack’s waited long enough. Make sure you come back and visit though, bring Aerith too!” Hercules told his fellow hero, holding up his fist.

Phil sighed in defeat and shrugged, muttering something about having a word with Aphrodite about stealing his heroes before turning to Mae. “Remember, you’re good but you’re sloppy! Keep your head and try to let Kairi take a breather now and then,” he ordered, “And make sure that sister of yours actually shows her stuff and expands that MP of hers!”

“We headed out then?” Axel asked, getting up to his feet from his crouched position next to Meg.

“Looks like it,” Riku confirmed glancing down at the witch and couldn’t help but smirk a little at how deeply she slept. “Should we wake her?”

Axel shook his head. “Nah, I’ll just―”

“―I’ve got her! Don’t worry about it!” Zack offered, snapping back out of his own head, unaware of his interruption as he stooped down beside the twin, lifting Meg easily into his arms.

Megera walked over and retrieved the blanket off of the younger, folding it over her arm. “Don’t be a stranger, you hear me Soldier?”

Zack nodded, “Count on it!”

“Oh~ Aerith will be so pleased!” Kairi clasped her hands in front of her, nearly bursting with excitement.

“And _surprised_ ,” Mae muttered as she wiped Hydra grime off her sleeve.

“What, that you’re not a battered mess this time?” Riku smirked at her a little. Mae scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Meg stirred a little bit, muttering something along the lines of “I know Cyrus, just a few more minutes…”

Mae heard her sister’s soft call and her expression faltered for a moment before she composed herself, beginning to walk toward the exit, “Come on, we’ve got beds on the Gummi…Zack, was it?”

The warrior with her sister caught up to her with easy strides. “That’s right,” he assured her, “Zack Fair, sorry for not introducing myself properly before scooping up your sister.”

“‘Fair’? That’s me and my sister’s last name,” Mae observed, eyebrows raised.

“So I’ve heard from the others, guess we’re long-lost siblings then!” Zack joked, chuckling slightly without wanting to wake the girl in his arms, “And what would my long-lost sisters’ names be?”

Mae chuckled a bit herself with a nod, “I’m Mae; the one you’re holding is my sister Meg.”

Sora moved to follow, twisting at the waist to wave to his native friends. “Bye guys!” he called, “We’ll be back soon!” Riku shrugged and with a final gesture―half wave, half salute―and followed along, hands in his pockets.

“So what was going on down in the Underworld?” Kairi asked as Sora held open the door into the Vestibule.

“A trap,” Axel answered bluntly, clearly still irked as he continued to glare straight ahead, “Hades wanted all the fighters down in the Underworld keeping busy while he sent the Hydra to destroy the Coliseum topside.”

“Good thing _we_ came along! Hades wasn’t expecting so many of us, let alone some fighters up on the surface too!” Sora beamed at the Princess proudly.

Meg stirred again at that point. The movement and irritated talking waking her up. After a second of resistance her eyes flickered open and she blinked up at the SOLDIER. “Hi…” she said, slowly blushing and looking around, “What happened?”

“The boys came back,” Mae relayed, walking closer beside Zack so her sister could see her. She chuckled a little and looked up at Zack, “Our long-lost brother Zack here is coming back with us to Radiant Gardens. Apparently he knows Aerith.”

“‘Long lost brother’?” Meg blinked at her sister, then up at Zack, thoroughly confused, “I wasn’t aware we had one.”

Mae shook her head with a light laugh. “We don’t,” she clarified, “Just Zack’s last name is Fair too.”

The witch blinked up at him, a little at a loss, she put together that they were moving but she wasn’t walking. “You can put me down now,” she pointed out to him with a nervous chuckle.

“You sure?” Zack asked, “You just woke up.”

She nodded. “Unlike Mae, it doesn’t take me long to wake up,” she said with a smile.

The others watched from behind as Zack set Meg back on her feet. “The twins seem to be getting along really well with your friend, Sora,” Kairi commented, “Zack, right?”

“Yeah,” Sora answered, “We just met him ourselves really, but he and Herc seemed to be old pals though; I wonder why I didn’t see him when I was here before…”

“Might have been off training elsewhere?” Riku suggested, “He did say his training took him around. He met Aerith.” Sora shrugged.

“Oh~ I can’t _wait_ to see Aerith’s face!” Kairi cooed, “How long do you suppose it’s been?”

“Probably about _four years_ ,” Axel pointed out, almost succeeding in tamping the irate tone in his voice, “Considering he mentioned not seeing her since before all that trouble with the Heartless.”

Riku scowled at him a little for his tone, “All he said was he couldn’t find her again because of the Heartless’ attack. Besides, Radiant Gardens was lost _years_ before we got involved.”

Axel shoved his hands into his pockets, scowling forward and powering ahead of them toward Zack and the twins. “I know.”

Hades stalked back into his throne room and roared, the gloomy room exploding in scarlet light with his temper. “I did warn you not to underestimate them.” Sighed a cool, bored voice from the figure settled comfortably in the god’s throne.

Hades shot them a furious look. “Yeah yeah yeah, and what kind of all-knowing master of the universe are you? Can’t even take out a couple of kids?”

The stranger sighed and stood walking over to the strategy board in the middle of the room. “It would be a waste of my time to explain it to you, you clearly have no head for the game.” They drolled picking up the Hercules piece and holding it in their palm out to the god. “All you have to remember is _tit_ ―” They crushed the figure in their hand. “―for _tat_.” They opened their palm, showing that all that remained of the figure was a fine black dust, letting it fall to the floor before strolling away into Darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Simply&Hibiscus Note: What? A chapter already? Shocking! But fear not, the world is not coming to an end; our updating will return to its apologetically sporadic norm, like now. Hibiscus is in school and the next chapter is a another one that needs a chunk of TLC. But we'll get 'er done as soon as the crushing weight of school allows. 
> 
> In other news, congrats to our Betareader who is getting married in a week!! We love the happy couple lots and looking forward to celebrating with them!

**Author's Note:**

> S&H Notes: See you next time!


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